Strictly Business
by justaroundtheriverbender
Summary: What happens when a Hollywood starlet and a rising country singer get together for business? Will it stay professional or become something more. A concept I thought would be pretty fun to explore, obviously AU.
1. Chapter 1 Beneficial Opportunity

_a/n: This is my first attempt at a romantic comedy. I'm writing this on a whim, so if its not perfect, bear with me. Familiar characters will be popping up here and there but mostly its about Richonne._

Public relations manager of country music's latest rising star Rick Grimes sits down before the singer. The red headed male tosses the front cover of a tabloid on his desk. "Read that, read that headline for me." Abraham says to his confused talent.

Rick picks up the magazine and reads it out loud. "Country boy Rick Grimes finds himself a leading lady."

"Are you two dating?" Abraham awaits the singer's answer with dollar signs in his eyes, but then decides he doesn't need the answer. "No, it doesn't matter, you two are gonna start dating."

"I don't even know her." The singer admits.

Abraham points down at the tabloid. "According to this you know her. Your album sales have gone through the roof since this hit the shelves. I don't know if its a bunch of her fans wanting to get to know who you are, but a relationship between the two of you will be a goldmine."

"I meet her at an after party in Los Angeles, and she thought I was the waiter."

"But you're not a waiter, you're country music's latest heartthrob."

"This doesn't feel right, using a woman to climb the latter of success."

"I've already spoken with her publicist Sasha Williams, who's having a similar conversation with your little starlet as we speak. Nobody's getting used. Not when the both of you are in on this business arrangement."

* * *

"I thought he was the waiter." The actress says to her publicist upon entertaining this strange conversation. Arranged relationships, weren't uncommon in the industry, but she never thought she'd be a part of one.

"Michonne-"

"I'm not dating a man just to gain popularity, I have enough of it already." As an actress, Michonne lived an imaginary life whenever she'd step on set. She wasn't about to have the falseness of her job, weave in with the realities of her life.

"Michonne, for him it's to gain a broader fan base, but for you, its to give you a different image to the public. You're very intimidating. Rick Grimes is a sensitive and passionate man, being with him will soften you up, take away some of that hard edge."

"Sasha I don't date...besides he got my drink wrong."

"I know you still miss Mike, and you went through a lot while grieving for him, but at some point you'll have to move on, its been three years."

Michonne didn't care about moving on, and even if she did it wouldn't be to a fake relationship. Sasha sees Michonne becoming visibly uncomfortable with the topic of her ex's untimely passing, so she quickly switches back to her business state of mind, reasoning with her client.

"No one says you have to fall in love with the man, but you are an actor. Think of this as another job. Your dating life is a hot topic right now, especially with award season coming up. People want to know if you'll show up with anyone. So, let's exploit the media as much as it likes to exploit you."

Sasha sighs as Michonne looks mildly disgusted by the entire prospect.

* * *

Rick is shaking his head. "I don't feel right about dating her, whether it's real or not."

Abraham is slightly alarmed by hearing this, and can only come to one solid conclusion. He leans into Rick and looks both ways, as if the two weren't talking within the privacy of his office. "Is it because she's black?"

"What... of course not!"

"Come on Rick you've got to tell me these things. I have to get word to Sasha on whether you're in this or not."

"I only divorced Lori two years ago, I don't think I'm ready to date another woman...but also... won't this relationship intimidate some of my more closed minded fans?"

"We've already got their money. We need other people's money now. We can loose a few racists, fuck em. Their ways of thinking are primitive and we need to head into the future, interracial dating is beautiful. You can trust me Rick, trust my decisions."

"You're working real hard for your ten percent right now."

* * *

"No, I don't have a problem dating a white boy from the deep south." Michonne says.

Sasha leans back in her seat, as Michonne gauges Sasha's reaction then clarifies her intent.

"I'm not being sarcastic, I really don't have a problem with it. Well, unless he makes it a problem."

"You see that? I couldn't tell if you were joking or not. That's the intimidating edge I was talking about."

"I don't need this Grimes guy to soften my appeal. I could just wear a lot of pink and smile more."

"But will you Michonne?" Sasha asks as if she already knew the answer. "I have to get back to AB1 with an answer pretty soon. I'd like to tell him you've given this the green light?"

Michonne sighs. "I'm not into this."

* * *

"So she dated a rapper named Mike the Maker? I don't know, what if I'm too far away from being her type?"

"Mike the Maker was more of a poet and a social justice advocate than just a rapper." Abraham defends as his many years as being the head of his own Public relations company, allowed him the chance to meet various people. "Mike was a good man, I was proud to have met him. She's attracted to good men, there's no specific_ type_ to being a good man."

* * *

Sasha places the tabloid in front of Michonne. "Look how sweet the two of you look together, this is candid chemistry."

Michonne looks at the tabloid, her face still shielded in discomfort. It was only about the idea of being set up, and never about Rick. The man who was nothing but kind to her that entire night, even though she thought he was in charge of getting her drinks most of the time. Sasha can see her warming up to the idea if only just a little bit.

"Rick was sweet...not full of himself like every other actor in Hollywood."

Hearing this Sasha tries to contain her smile. "So what do you say?"

* * *

While Sasha plays upon heart strings, Abraham doesn't, and baits Rick into the idea by bringing up some realities of the singer's career. It's blunt and its tough love.

"Look at this cover, when was the last time you've been on a cover of anything besides your own album?"

"Never, but-"

"You've never been on the cover of anything." An unfair statement since Rick was a private man who had always kept himself out of the public eye. "I know writing music is a love for you, it's a passion, I'm only trying to get you to fulfill your passion and make a lot of money." The red headed male insists.

People hardly bought entire albums anymore, CDs were for memorabilia and collections and not for listening to. The market's consumers bought singles because its easy to pick and choose songs from iTunes and not have to spend over ten bucks for a full album. That and the fact that most artists in this era didn't have much staying power, or provoked enough interest. Talent or not. Being on the cover of gossip rags and magazines got people talking, got celebrities famous. And fame brought in more money.

"I don't do it for the money." Rick voices.

"I know you don't but I do. That fancy cabin in the woods, I know it's made out of trees, but you needed money to build that."

"Fine as long as she's okay with it." Rick picks up the tabloid again and looks at the picture with a smile. "She is beautiful." That entire night kept replaying in his head, how beautiful she was, the sound of her voice, but could he do this? Could he pretend to date her?

* * *

Sasha is alone in her office now as a phone call from AB1 comes through. She picks up the phone, "yea Abraham she's in...what about Rick?"

"He's in too."

"Excellent."

"Alright, were coming out to L.A. Lets get these two into the swing of things, and start making some money."


	2. Chapter 2 Research

Rick had been settling into his hotel suite when a familiar face crashed in on what was supposed to be a simple unpacking. Shane Walsh, a man who had some small semblance of fame as the guitarist in a rock band, crudely named 'Sweater Puppies.' Rick confides in Shane on the situation with himself and Michonne. Shane derails the singer with a suggestion that the two do some research on the actress, so they decide to watch a few of her films. An idea Rick was into for the purest of reasons, in contrast to his friend.

"Why isn't she ever naked in her movies, where's the fast forward button?" Shane said searching for the remote. Rick sighs as his friend speeds up the movie in an attempt to see some _booty_.

"Shane, stop that. Can't you see I'm trying to watch this?"

"We're doing research man, we need to know what you're gettin' into... literally. Okay, her dress is good here, it's short and tight... look at them legs Rick. God damn!"

Rick rubs the palms of his now sweaty hands against his face in frustration and embarrassment, wondering if Shane was the only person who watched her moves for the soul purpose of getting off, instead of for her craft. Shane pauses the movie and watches the blush on his friend's face in amusement.

"You gonna be datin' her right? You shouldn't be ashamed of liking what you see."

"Shane, this whole thang may be a farce, but could you please tone down on the objectification. All you ever talk about is sex, while I'm here hoping not to screw this whole thing up. I feel like you ain't taking this thing seriously."

"I've been ordering all her movies. I'm helping the both of you out... Oh look, a shower scene!" Shane says in excitement as he plays the scene in slow motion. Rick laughs at a frustrated Shane who's watching steam covering Michonne's body from his view.

"Oh yeah, she has a no nudity clause." Rick remembered as Shane threw down the remote and got up.

"You think you could of told me that before I wasted eight hours looking for a pair a tits that weren't even there! Man, fuck you!"

Rick couldn't help but laugh. This man was his complete opposite, but he was like a brother to him. Even after he left Lori, Shane had been there for him, he even promised to catch the prick who she was cheating on him with and kick is ass. Rick obviously declined, but he appreciated the kind gesture.

"Shane have you ever been in one of these arranged relationships?"

"If I have a woman for more than one night, I'd lose my fan base."

"What you should lose are the monthly mug shots you get for bar fighting and DUIs."

"It adds to my image." Shane defends, "and speaking of image, I have yet to take one bad mugshot...except for that one time in Vegas, but those cops fucked my ass up. If I were ever a cop I would never beat anyone up that bad, that was some crazy excessive force man."

* * *

Across town, in a home obnoxiously to big for just one person, Michonne had invited over her close friend Andrea, to be an ear for the actress to vent to. She knows Andrea can be trusted but she had no idea how much of a die-hard fan her friend was of the blue eyes serenader. The two are in Michonne's living room for a little listening session when Michonne comes to a realization about Rick.

"All of his songs are so... sad." Michonne said as her friend played the next song which consisted of a low, pitiful guitar strum and Rick's smooth southern voice, belting out his sorrowful life story.

Andrea takes a second to elaborate some meaning behind the music. "The song you heard before was about the troubles in his marriage, and how he regretted marrying so young. And this one is about his ex-wife, and how he lost the soul of the woman he once loved."

"I still can't believe I'm doing this-"

"I still can't believe you're doing him. He's so hot and cute, and his voice is to die for!" Andrea praised hoping Michonne would share in her enthusiasm.

"First of all, I'm not _doing_ him, it'll be like an ongoing movie. When the cameras are on, we'll be all lovely dovey, but once we're alone, he'd better keep his hands to himself."

"I wish I were you, but when do I not-could you get him to autograph something for me?"

Michonne looked at her friend "like what?"

"A poster for me and Amy and a few CDs... I also have a t-shirt-"

"How about I invite him over and you can meet him yourself... " Michonne stopped when her friend yelled at the top of her lungs and hugged a brow raising Michonne.

"Oh my gosh, the southern gentleman himself, talking to me... what do I wear, what do I do? If he talks I will literately faint-whoops, I don't mean to act so... crazy." Andrea apologizes.

"I really need you to stop acting like a fan, and start behaving like a friend. I'm nervous about this. I don't know this guy. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into." What Michonne fails to acknowledge is that she's simply afraid to date in general.

"I may have an idea, let's do some research on him." Andrea says while in the action of pulling out her phone.

* * *

"Look, if you want some insight on this chick, go to the internet good or bad they'll have it." Shane says as he's walking around Rick's room, idly touching his things and searching through places he shouldn't, out of pure boredom.

Rick shakes his head. "I don't know about that. I don't rely on the internet for facts on people's personal lives."

"Did the internet lie when I'm writing an email and I need to check the spelling of a word through google? No."

"Shane, what does a spell check have to do with anything?"

"It was there for me when I misspelled disappointment and it'll be here for us now."

Rick laughs.

* * *

Andrea filters out Michonne's name since she knows all recent updates would be talking about his possible relationship with her friend. "Lets type in, Rick Grimes salacious...no Rick Grimes scandal." Michonne sits close by watching as the blonde typing into the search bar. "Ooh look I found a ton of links here...Rick Grimes divorces high school sweetheart. Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh, more than just friends? Rick Grimes gives fans more than they've bargained for with accidental wardrobe malfunction. A nasty dispute with ex-wife proves fatal for country singer Rick Grimes, as his car goes up in flames."

Michonne sighs. "Besides that article about him and Shane, we know all of this already...he wrote about these troubles in his music. Oh no...he writes his entire life in his music...remind me to get him to sigh a confidentiality agreement."

"Oh yea I know what that song would be called...sign on the dotted line or else, an ode to Michonne." Andrea jokes as Michonne rolls her eyes.

"I can't imagine what's on the internet about me."

"I'm guessing nothing bad. You're kind of a good girl."

* * *

"Oh my god she's so boring!" Shane complains as he's looking through the non-exist dirt on Michonne. "No stumbling out of clubs, no feuds or leaked nudes...look at this shit." Rick leans over looking at the screen on Shane's phone. "Actress Michonne digs deep in her most riveting role yet, but will playing a shut in plagued by crippling anxieties grant her a nomination at the Golden Globes? Michonne creates latest charity organization to help children suffering from poverty. Michonne makes a speech at New York University about the misconceptions of feminism."

"She sounds like a good woman. I'd much rather she be _boring_ than some lunatic, which just so happens to be your type of woman."

"Let's see what else I can find," Shane says as he's continuing his search. "On her IMDB page, she's listed as an actress and philanthropist. She's 26, works full time on a series call Six Psychotics..." Shane is still bored out of his mind and decides to switch to some gossip blogs. "Oh my god!"

Rick jumps. "What?"

"Rick, she hasn't dated anyone in three years, what if she's crazy? What if she has a whole bunch of cats...you could be dealing with a crazy cat lady."

"I haven't been with anyone in two years, and before Lori, I hardly dated anyone. According to your logic, that must make me crazy too."

"Well, they always say it's the quiet ones who snap the loudest."

* * *

The actress is pacing back and forth before Andrea who was still surfing through stories and gossip on her phone. She takes time to vocalize some frustration. "The only legitimate information you've found is that he's a 30-year-old country music singer. A newborn baby can tell me that." Michonne sets her hands on her hips realizing Andrea isn't paying any attention to her. "Andrea."

Michonne leaves Andrea alone with her fixation and sits on the couch. She takes the time to listen to Rick's music and really listens. The rhythm of his voice, the tone of his pain and the slow melody that complimented it. She realized that she can connect to his music, it's about loss and she knows that feeling all too well.

* * *

With Shane out of his hotel room, Rick replays one of Michonne's films from the beginning. He kicks up his feet getting comfortable and watches her as if she's a work of art on screen. It's a dramatic film that he understands. In the ways he writes his pain, she portrays her's on screen, he knows it's a role but also knows that hurt comes from a place she finds deep inside herself. He's not just curious about her anymore, he's impressed.

_A/N So I think these coming chapters are going to be very light. With this chapter I wanted Rick and Michonne's confidants to be on opposite ends of the same unhelpful spectrum. I'm still kinda writing this idea to idea. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far. _


	3. Chapter 3 Hello relationship

A few solid knocks against his front door, hurries Rick from his morning shower. The singer wraps a towel around his hips as he's leaving a trail of wet foot steps behind him, in a rush to the door. "Alright I'm coming." He calls out upon more knocking. He opens the door stunned to see Michonne standing there with a smile that fades into her own shock, at his absent attire. "Well, looks like I've caught you at the appropriate time."

Rick steps aside letting her in as he addressed her timidly. "Michonne."

"Rick." She says walking into his room, pleasantly dressed in a black and white patterned high waited skirt, and royal blue cropped top. Rick closes the door behind her and nervously tightens his towel at his hips. "Just give me a second, I need to get decent."

Michonne waits for him to throw on some clothes, which he does quickly in order to keep her from waiting to long. He comes out in blue denim jeans and a black buttoned up shirt, combing his hands through the damp curls of his hair. She uses the moment to hopefully lessen some of the awkwardness in the room. "Its nice to see you again, you look good when you're not matching the Waitstaff." Michonne says playfully to the singer.

"You want a drink? I promise to get it right this time." Rick says trying his best to be a bit flirtatious. He remembered the last time he attempted, he'd gotten a smile out of her, but this time she wasn't so easily relaxed.

"You know what, surprise me." Rick nods and gets her a cold bottle of water. She thanks him as he hands it to her. He then picks up a bottle for himself, he isn't exactly thirsty, but feels he needs to do something with his hands. Anything to stop him from rubbing his forehead as he asks a vital question of her. "How long do you think they'll want us to do this?"

Michonne doesn't have an answer and gets nervous, as the thought is worry sum to her as well. Rick distracts himself by taking a gulp of his own bottle of water, while Michonne decides to make a joke of the matter. "I'm sure they'll probably want us to get married."**  
**

Rick spits out his water looking bug eyed at the actress, "what?!"

"I was joking."

"You didn't sound like you were."

"I know its a problem of mine. Sasha says I'm to serious when I'm trying to make jokes."

"Its not your tone, its mostly your content, that was a bit strong."

She smirks. "So you're gonna help me be a comedian now?"

"Well I was supposed to help soften your image, but I don't know if I can help you with that."

"Thanks for letting me know I'm a lost cause."

Rick isn't to sure on what to say to better the conversation, so he vocalizes some discomfort. "I'm gonna order something before I completely screw this up."

"Don't you think you're past that point?"

"Are you-are you making another joke?"

"I don't know Rick, am I?"

Rick's eyes are switching to anything else in the room, he looks down shifting his weight to one foot before looking at her again, but she gives him a careless shrug to let him know its okay. She puts his mind at ease but he's still worried about going through the motions of this pretense.

"We're gonna be alright doing this." He asks her.

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"I...ah..." He scratches his brow.

"Don't worry, we get along well enough."

"Yeah...could you imagine if we hated each other?"

"Speak for yourself."

"What? Oh god, Michonne you have to stop with these jokes."

Michonne smiles as he shyly resorts to playing with something on his dresser. She watches him for a moment before beginning to speak, gaining his attention. "I came here to ease some of my nerves...to gauge my comfort level around you."

"How am I doing?"

"I'm thinking I don't have to much to worry about you, and this isn't me trying to make a joke." Michonne surprised herself by being so forth coming. She manages to get a smile out of Rick, and even some tension released from his shoulders.

"Just so you know, I'm pretty comfortable around you too..."

"Even with my jokes?"

"Especially with your jokes." He smiles at her, and his smile is so contagious that she cant help but to do the same.

* * *

Two days later, Sasha is with Abraham in her office. She turns on her TV flipping through a ton of channels then sees that its six in the afternoon. "Isn't CMZ on right now?"

Sasha sits behind her large desk as Abraham leans against it anticipating the show. Carol Peletier, the owner of CMZ walks out amongst her team of star obsessed reporters. Both Sasha and Abraham know that anyone with even a twinge of interest in pop culture watches this show. Carol is holding a large cup as she stands behind a short wall, that separates herself from the rest of her team. "Alright, apparently a new couple has surfaced."

An enthusiastic blonde, with large blue eyes stares happily at Carol, just giddy about the story she has to report. "So there might be something more to the rumors that Michonne and Rick Grimes are dating." Beth continues within the playful cheers in the room. "A few days ago we found out that Rick was staying at the Bell-Air Morgan Hotel. Cameras caught Michonne entering the hotel then leaving some time after. A source from inside says she was defiantly leaving Rick's hotel suite."

"But she left the hotel by herself?" Carol asks.

"Yea, but what's really interesting was Rick leaving the hotel a few minuets after, and he's just swarmed by our guys. They asked him about Michonne and he didn't say anything but he was red in the cheeks and smiling."

Beth's sister Maggie, is seated beside the speculative blonde, and seems far less into the notion that the celebrities are actually dating. "Rick isn't used to the paparazzi, he could have been blushing because he's embarrassed by all the attention."

Beth provides more speculation to satisfy her argument. "Then how do you explain today when we caught Michonne leaving filming, and guess who just happened to be waiting in his car for her, Rick freakin' Grimies! There's defiantly something going on there."

"I don't know, they seem like a really odd pair, these two people have nothing in common and all of a sudden they're dating?"

Sasha turns off the TV, "I want that brunette one fired."

Abe shrugs it off. "She's like that with everybody. Chad and Sangelina, Geyonce and Cay-Z, hell even Beihanna and Brake. That girl just don't believe in love."

"We don't believe in love, we fabricated it."

"I believe in love, especially if I can make a profit."

Sasha starts tapping her remote to her lips looking deep in thought. Its too soon for an official public outing. "Abe do you have any ideas? We need to get more people talking about these two."

"I got it, a sex tape."

"Any good ideas."

"It worked with Shane Walsh, I'm just saying."

Sasha puts a hand on her hip. "Shane Walsh, who does anything for attention."

"Rick and Michonne need his enthusiasm."

Sasha comes up with a more tactical plan suited for the two artists. "We'll have Rick and Michonne go out for a date night. Of course again they wont be seen entering or leaving with each other. Some hole in the wall restaurant where the paps don't frequent, this can't look staged. Paps follow Michonne everywhere it's annoying but convenient this time. We'll have them seated towards the front but not pressed up against the window like a display case. The media has to think they've hit the jackpot and spotted these two on a secret outing."

"Yea, we bury the treasure, put an X on it and let them do the work."

"I'm tired of your analogies."

"I only get ten percent from Rick, let me have this."

"Oh really? Michonne gives me, fifteen." Sasha boasts.

"What? Rick that cheap bastard! Trying to fake me out with that sensitivity crap."

"No wonder you're hungry for money, you barely get any."

Abraham sadly nods and leans his head on Sasha's shoulder.


	4. Chapter 4 The First Date

It may have been a pretend date but Rick still needed to dress the part. He worries about what he's wearing but thinks he's picked a classic selection of clothing. He comes out sporting a black suit with a white button-down shirt, and some black dress shoes. Shane is searching through Rick's closet; there to help his friend get ready.

"Rick...the red or blue tie?" Shane asks presenting the two options.

"The blue one. I hate the color red, its so abrasive, forceful, and violet."

"Damn you really hate the color red huh?" Shane then tosses the blue option out the window. "A sad hobo will get that blue tie, and you'll wear the red one like a man."

The way Rick is looking at his friend, there's no way Shane isn't going to get that tie back. "Shane, why did you just do that? That thang wasn't cheap!"

"How much money could it be, its a tie?"

"You'd never know, you've never warn one."

"I don't wear ties cause they get in the way of the love making, same reason I don't wear button ups, or a belt."

"The one time you told me not to wear a belt, I mooned an entire audience."

"And the internet is still talking about that, so who should you be thanking right now?"

"Shane I can't believe this, but my confidence has dropped even lower than before this conversation, and I have a date in thirty minuets."

"Look at the sliver lining, no matter how badly you screw up your date, its all a publicity stunt anyways, she can't leave you even if she wanted to. Can't leave what you don't really have."

"I don't want her to hate me."

"Stop acting like you're a plague man, you're a great guy and she should be honored to have you, bow leggedness and all."

"Bow leggedness? Did you check that word through google?" Rick mocks.

* * *

No stranger to dressing sexy, Michonne stepped out of her car wearing a form fitted spaghetti strapped dress, in bright red. She hands her keys to the valet, and struts into the restaurant with an air of confidence that doesn't match her state of mind. In her head, thoughts are running rampant. This was her first date in years, regardless of how real it was. She walks steadily through a few paparazzi, tuning out there invasive questions, and holding her head down as their camera flashes acts like visual static around her.

Rick is already inside having arrived a few minuets prior. He's a ball of nerves that he has to keep under wraps since he's seated within a clear distance of paparazzi, who are snapping pictures of him through the windows of the restaurant. He notices them from the corner of his eye, popping up man by man, but his body language would suggest there presence was the last thing known to him.

And then she walks in. His lady in red. That aggressive color which isn't so aggressive on her but gorgeous. He smooths his hand over his tie and stands up with a smile, in genuine awe of her. The smile she gives him is genuine as well but her lips are mouthing for him to hug her as she's approaching him. As they hug she leans into his ear, "never look at the window okay, remember its just me and you here." She's already thinking of the logistics of the date, using it as a crutch not to blur any lines. He kisses her cheek with a sigh of agreeance before walking around her and pulling out her chair.

"You clean up pretty well" she compliments as Rick's to shy to tell her how much he lusts after her in that dress.

"I like your dress...its my favorite color."

"You like red?"

"Well I do now."

Michonne smiles thinking to herself, 'that was smooth.' She's looking across the table at Rick, who looks so pleased with himself. His first attempt at being playful seemingly successful. This is the last thing Michonne needs, him being cute."I lead you right into that one." She recognizes.

"And I thank you for that." He sends a smile her way then watches the actions of her body language. She's a little tense while subtly clasping and squeezing her hands together within her lap, a self-pacifying gesture she tries to hide.

"What's wrong?" He asks her.

She shakes her head. "Nothing."

"You're worried about something."

Michonne speaks with a whisper, her eyes checking her surroundings as she waits for a waiter to past them. "If anyone finds out about this relationship not being real, its career suicide. We can't except for fans to still like us if they find out were swindling them. What we do is our livelihood, we can't mess it up."

"You know what's real right now? Us all dressed up and out for dinner. How fake is this really? The world sees a couple, but right now I see that I'm treating a beautiful woman to a meal."

"So in short, stop worrying and eat." She says more towards herself with a small eye roll.

"That would be a nice start." He responds trying to ease some of her apprehension.

After ordering, their food comes by momentarily. He smirks at the fact that she actually ordered food instead of a salad like Shane had mentioned most of these actresses did. They eat in silence and after some time Michonne glances up at Rick. She clears her throat to get his attention, "you've got a little sauce on your mouth there" she discreetly nods to the left of his lips.

Rick blushes as picks up a napkin dabbing the spot on his face. Michonne shakes her head, "no, let me do it." She smiles at his slightly dorkish demeanor, while she wipes the corner of his mouth clean.

Rick laughs and nods his head. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"So how work going?"

Michonne isn't really wanting to talk about work but answers him anyway. "I'm thinking of ending my contract with the series I'm on. After four years, Its just time."

"Wow, really?"

"They're taking my character down a path I'm not happy with, and when you start losing faith in your writers, that's when its time to move on."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you but I'm not sorry to say it. I prefer doing indie movies anyways, they're grittier, I can get my hands dirty. Hows the new album coming along?"

"Its going good. I'm getting a ton of studio time...finding time to write came a lot easier back home. Now that I'm in L.A. I've been so busy that I haven't gotten a moment to think."

"I know its a lot to take in, sometimes you can feel like a spinning top, spiraling out of control."

Rick looks at her with a nod while she continued to speak. "All you need are good people, around you. Ones that keep you grounded."

"You're right about that."

Rick looked past Michonne seeing a gathering of couples assembling little by little for a slow dance. Michonne watches as Rick stands from his seat, and extends his hand to her. Michonne raises an eyebrow at his sudden spontaneity. "Come on, you can't leave my hanging here." He says encouraging his sultry date.

Michonne gets up from her seat. She took his hand as he walked beside her, leading her to the dancing area with his hand on the small of her back.

"So since you asked me to dance, I should be confident in your moves?" Michonne inquires.

"Its been some time since I've slow danced. I might be a little out of practice."

He hods the top half of her slender frame against his body as she smiled at him. He has all this confidence in motion, and its entertaining to her. There bodies sway together in tune to the melody playing around them. They're getting in good with the rhythm, and eye contact comes easily to them.

There's never a second when they shy away, they could chalk it up to fully being comfortable around one another, but its not simple comfort, they're close, intimate. Michonne leans in and whispers into his ear, words strung together that sparks pure confusion in him. "You're really trying to sell it Rick, I'm impressed."

"What?"

"With the way you're looking at me."

"Oh..." is all Rick can say, as he had no inkling to the way he was looking at her. He wishes more than anything in the moment that he can see himself through her eyes. Another realization hits him again with her next words.

"Of course it would help if we were still dancing." Rick and Michonne had stopped dancing for what seemed like forever ago. What a third perspective could see was a couple, smitten and holding each other without movement. The two had been locked in a shared embrace starring and holding each other, completely oblivious to everything around them. Including the end to the song they'd danced to. Rick pulls away and rubs the back of his head sheepishly.

"I'm sorry about that, I must have spaced out. Looking into your eyes can do that to a man." Rick tried to recover from a heavy blush and the drastic blunder of not being more aware of his surroundings, but Michonne had been guilty of the same thing.

"I know the feeling, looking into those aqua blues can put a woman in a trance. Wait, what are we doing here exactly?" Michonne caught herself in her moment of flirtation with Rick, unsure of how small whispers between the two would further their cause.

"A little flirting never hurt anybody." He points out.

She reminds herself that flirting was good. It was playful and a much needed distraction from the pressure she'd been putting on this date, nothing would truly come from it, they both understand what this was.

"Well its hurting my feet because we've been standing here for almost an hour."

She then smiled and extended her hand to him. He blushes and accepts her gentle touch. Following behind her, he admired the way her figure moves underneath the body hugging material of her dress. Michonne glances over her shoulder, she'd seen where his eyes had drifted towards, before awkwardly flicking up at her. "Something catch your attention back there?" She speaks with a knowing tone.

"Yea...it's _something_ alright."

_A/N: Listen Rick is always checking out Michonne that's true from the show lol. Anyways here's to hoping ya'll enjoyed this chapter, the next one wont be to far behind._


	5. Chapter 5 pressing the relationship

_A/N: Disclaimer, I am not affiliated with any of the award shows mentioned. Also everyone has been really encouraging and thank you, you all rock._

The next morning it was back to work for Michonne, back to an odd sense of normality, as she was in the middle of getting prepared for a scene. Seated in the makeup chair, the actress read over her lines one final time, while a makeup artist was laying on a prosthetic gash wound along her chest. Her phone rings and she picks it up seeing Andrea's name. Placing the phone to her ear she smiled. "Hey Andrea."

"What are you doing right now?"

"Getting my chest slashed open, you?"

"What?"

"I'm in the makeup chair getting some protestic scars put on, if only you could see me now, I look so brutal."

"Oh my god don't tell me that, its a spoiler, you know I watch your show."

Michonne laughs lightly then hears her friend's rushed voice. "Your boyfriend is on _The Morning Show with Bob Stookey_, go support your man."

"Alright, I'll call you later." Michonne ends the call then politely asks her makeup artist to turn on the TV to channel seven.

Michonne stares at Bob Stookey on screen as he's addressing his studio audience. "Our next guest is country music's biggest sensation, here to preform his number one hit on the country music charts, 'The Stare of a Stranger.' Welcome Rick Grimes." Michonne smiles as she's watching Rick with his guitar, looking his country best.

Rick has to forcefully take himself back to that place of sadness. He steps into the shoes of the man he was years ago. When the feelings going through him were amalgams of uncertainty and distrust. The band plays behind him, then Rick strums his guitar. As he sings Michonne can see him, feeling the music building up inside, before flowing through his lips. The audience shares in his emotion, a sea of mostly woman, some younger ones raising there arms in the air in heavenly praise of the musician before them, who's pain is just close enough to touch.

_Your eyes beamed with passion, on a cold autumn's eve _

_Your touch lifted my heart, with the greatest of ease _

_Your lips spoke sweet words that you thought I wanted to hear _

_But after all that time together, our hearts were never near_

_As her touch grew fainter, _

_And her laughter stopped short... _

_They where the eyes of a stranger _

_Which pierced through my heart  
_

...

Its sad yet endearing how Rick's eyes would close with specific lyrics that struck a cord with him, then open as if praying to not be trapped in that place anymore. He lowers his head as there's a lyric break in the song, as if to take a moment for himself. He's bobbing his head up and down to the band's progressing tune. He leans towards the mike again, making eye contact with various members of the audience, the ones who are with him the strongest, with his song. Rick's voice diminishes into a heavy-hearted melody, an enchanting pendulum swaying lower and lover over the fixated audience.

Even Michonne's makeup artist is a little spotty with her attention to her work, switching between being precise with Michonne's makeshift scar, and watching Rick on the TV screen. Michonne's smile creeps up on her, as she's viewing him proudly.

After his performance, Rick had a sit down with the host Boob Stookey. The singer had been prepped on what to say, and more so, on what not to. The thing about Rick is, he knows how to beat around the bush until its dead. And when the topic of his love life inevitably comes around, he avoids it with sweetness.

Bob adjusts himself in his seat. "So Rick, there's word that you have a special lady in your life."

"All the woman I come across in my life are special. They all hold a place in my heart, looking out into the audience I see about two hundred special ladies right now." Suddenly the air is flooded with the feminine voices just flattered by Rick's charming complement towards them. A bevy of admiration as a particularly loud woman calls out from the crowd. "I wanna have your babies Rick!" Then another shouts, "I love you Rick!"

Rick holds his head down blushing red with laughter.

"There's no doubt the ladies love you." Bob says with a smile.

Rick nods his head. "I'm very appreciative of that, and I'm very appreciative of them. Thank you all."

* * *

Much later in the day, Michonne had some promotion of her own to do. She was tired from being on set most of the day and now she had to act like she was anything other than drained. Standing in the green room, a P.A. assistant was carefully miking her, as Sasha rushes in. The publicist waits until the assistant leaves before speaking. "Alright here's the rundown, I picked Glenn Rhee because you have the best rapport with him."

Michonne nods her head as she's standing in front of a full length mirror, shaking her head at the lavender colored dress Sasha had forced her to wear.

"Michonne before you say anything, no you can't change that dress. You're happy and cheery from now on, and your clothes need to reflect that. No more black, navy, or red like you wore last night." Michonne isn't speaking but saying a lot with facial expressions. So Sasha hurries things up. "When you go out there he'll ask about the show, smile and make a few jokes...I'm trusting that you wont make any dark ones. Keep it light out there, like your dress." An impossible task since Michonne plays a serial killer on her show.

"He'll ask you about Rick and just be coy about it, we're saving your official coming at as a couple for The Grammys."

Michonne sadly looks over at Sasha. "You mean since the Golden Globes snubbed my Indi movie?"

"Everyone knows the Golden Globes is just a popularity contest. I'm sure you'll get nominations for the Critics Choice Awards, the SAGs and hopefully The academy Awards."

"I wont hold my breath on The Academy." Michonne says feeling a little defeated. she'd always put so much into every performance, but would always get over looked.

"I've been reading reviews from significant people in the industry about your movie, trust me your getting a nomination. I'm not into giving you a big head, I'm into facts, so smile and do great out there."

"Thanks Sasha."

"Break a leg."

"In these heels I might."

"Michonne what did I say about keeping it light?" Sasha scolded Michonne's dark sense of humor.

* * *

"Welcome everybody to _Late night with Glenn Rhee_. Now our next guest plays a house wife by day and a sadistic serial killer by night on the show "Six Psychotics." Please everybody give a warm round of Applause for Michonne." After the introduction, Glenn stands up clapping his hands.

Michonne comes strutting out across the stage amongst waves of applauds, with a bright smile as demanded by Sasha, and waved to the studio audience. She meets up with Glenn embracing him in a warm hug before taking a seat on his coveted couch.

"You look stunning." Glenn compliments.

"Thank you for reminding me why I'm constantly on your show, I get free compliments." She laughs.

"So lets get right into this."

Michonne nods. "Okay."

"The show is amazing, you've been doing great portraying this almost soul-less woman when she's in the mist of a kill, then this warm mother and wife. Did you ever think your character would take this turn?"

"Never...when I was told I'd be killing men and dissolving pieces of there body in acid, I thought art intimidating life."

Glenn laughs as Michonne continues. "So basically I'm admitting that I'm a mass murder in real life so..."

"And you only kill men, and I'm a man..." Glenn replies going along with the joke.

"I feel like you should be worried right now. Even with the studio audience."

"So there might be one man that would be saved from your rampant killing spree. Does the name Rick Grimes ring a bell?"

"Glenn how good do you feel about that segway?"

"I feel pretty good about it."

Michonne just smiles and looks unfazed by the question. "Ya know, he's a gorgeous guy, any woman that he's with I'm sure is very lucky-and that's all I'll say about that."

"So Michonne as Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry would say 'Do you feel lucky, punk?'"

Michonne holds her stomach leaning over in uncontrollable laughter. As the audience is cheering and clapping.

From his hotel room Rick is smiling at Michonne on his TV. He'd watched her entire interview from start to finish and even though some of the hooting and hollering from men in the audience annoyed him to no end, he'd been more concerned about her interview then his own, since many had a preconceived notion about her. It was nice for the public to see Michonne the way he did.

* * *

The next day, Rick returns to his hotel room, to see a bottle of champagne seated in a bucket of ice. He picks up the bottle smiling at the tag around it reading "from Michonne to Rick." What he fails to notice is a little note by the bucket from Michonne.

"I guess she don't come with the bottle." He jokes to himself then stuffs his hand into his pocket and pulls out his phone in an attempt to call Michonne but before he can dial, there's a knock at his door. He puts his phone down and walks to the door. When he opens it, he sees Michonne starring at him with some disappointment.

"Why are you looking at me like that, did you expect someone else?"

"I was expecting to see you in something a little more inviting." She said with a playful suggestive wink.

"Like the towel?" Rick smiles then shamelessly flirts. "Give me a few minuets and I'll see what I can do."

"Or you could let me in."

As she walks in Rick shuts the door. "I wasn't expecting to see you."

"Didn't you read my note? I said I'd be coming over."

Rick looks confused then sees Michonne walking toward the ice bucket and grabbing the small card and raising it up, swaying it before his eyes.

"Okay in my defense, I just came in here a minute ago and I was worked like a dog for the past few days. I saw your interview with Glenn, you were amazing."

"I saw yours too with Bob, you were very _humble_." Michonne pauses for a moment then states something that she just needs to say to him. "Don't let anybody change you, can you promise me that?"

"I promise."

"I only say that because I like you, just the way you are...people in this industry, they change. And not always for the better." Michonne spoke, but her eyes alluded to the fact that she was speaking with someone in mind.

"Hey..." he moves in closer to her, "I wouldn't let you down like that."

"Good. I like this Rick."

"And I'm really proud of this Michonne."


	6. Chapter 6 Coming To Terms

_A/N: So I wanted the next three-ish chapters to be more heavy. I really need for Rick and Michonne to be in a place where they're ready to move on from their respective pasts. So without further ado._

"Rick... its Lori. Do you have a minute to talk?" Just the sound of Lori's voice over the phone, is like pulling loose threads to his emotional state; he doesn't want to unravel, doesn't want to lose his temper with her. The last thing he ever thought he'd hear was her voice again. He doesn't answer right away, but she can still feel his presence over the phone. "Rick?"

"Yea... I'm here." He finally answers.

When Rick and Lori got divorced, Lori never asked for anything, least of all money, she wouldn't dare because of how she'd hurt him, but she needed it now. Back then, she wasn't prepared to be anything other than his wife, she never attempted to sort out her own life, or her wants apart from being with him. If she did, she knows she could have saved them both a lot of pain.

If the present situation wasn't so dire she would have never made such a bold plea, but he was the only person she knew that would help her. Rick was a good man and she was a woman he once loved, a woman he shared a past with, he had the means to help her, and if asked he would. Of course she had to explain so much to him during that phone call, words she struggled to communicate but she did, all of it.

Rick was on a quick flight back home. As he's on that plane, he reevaluates his past with Lori, and sees aspects of that time differently now. The divorce was so complicated, there was so much he didn't know, and so much anger clouding judgment. It took him years to find out why she cheated and who the person was, but when she told him just mere hours ago, everything made more sense. It had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with her and her feelings, she could never love him, not after coming to terms with who she really was. He doesn't know how to take the revelation, should he be relived or even more upset?

"We were young." He mentally rationalizes for the two of them. So young and the marriage was so rushed, by her mother and his parents, and the people that were happy they were ending up together. Pressure and expectations provoked their marriage, not being right for each other didn't hold it together.

* * *

"Lori... you don't need to be embarrassed, we all need a helping hand at one point or another."

Lori gets right into the heart of their pain with an apology. "What I did to you Rick, it was wrong... I understand if you're always gonna hate me."

"I don't hate you Lori, I just wish you were able to talk to me, handle things in a different way. A way that didn't have to hurt us."

"Cheating was a mistake, it was impulsive and stupid but it was the one time I felt like my own person."

Rick clenches his jaw nodding his head at the ground, then he heard her voice again, rushing to remove the topic of her cheating. "I'm surprised that you agreed to help me. Beggin' you for money and forcing you to care."

Rick sits down and looks out into the quiet medow, interlacing his fingers and bracing himself forward against his lap. Throughout the entire conversation, they had never once looked at each other.

Lori speaks again forcing herself to rehash troubles of her past two years. "My mother wont talk to me. She says that I'm her biggest mistake... she disowned me. I let her down by letting you go and for loving who I love now. She never cared about what I wanted-what I needed... something told me she'd never understand me being with another woman, but I still wanted her to know the truth about me. I wouldn't be able to love a man the way I could a woman. The things my mother said to me were so hurtful."

Her mother wanted _the best_ for her and was disgruntled by how she'd shamed her family by leaving this perfectly good man for her lover Tara. A person Lori had to hide for years until she just couldn't anymore, but coming out to her mother, caused her everything, including finical support from her family.

"That's not right. Then again I'm not surprised she's treating you this way. Your happiness should be what comes first." He wanted to find something to say to make her feel better, he could see that after two years, Lori was still tormenting herself.

"Thank you, speakin of happiness." Lori smiles forcing the mood to lighten. "Is there a woman that's bringin' a bit of happiness in your life?" Lori asked towards the sky as Rick looked towards the ground, nodding.

Lori had left him for a woman, but he reconciles with the fact that she'd found the right person to be with. He wants to tell her about Michonne but it doesn't really count as a relationship. Even though Michonne made him feel safe and happy, like for once he was on solid ground.

"It's hard to say, how about you?" Rick finally swiveled his head to look in her direction, but avoided making direct eye contact.

"It's hard but she and I are making it work. It's difficult having a famous ex. Everybody knows your name... and mine. You know, I'm that woman who broke your heart, that daughter who couldn't stick to the status quo..."

"You should have taken the money, I should have insisted. I was selfish and only thinking about myself-" Rick's rusty voice struck a cord with her; she was tired of Rick being sorry.

"I knew this would happen Rick, right from our honeymoon, I was already ready to let you go. You should hate me."

"I don't hate you. I never could and I don't think I ever will... we were friends once right? What ever happened to that?" Rick's question seemed a bit rhetorical, but she still wanted to answer him instead of weighing him down further with her problems.

"It was always you and Shane, you were always so quiet so when he told me that you liked me, I felt special. It wasn't love, it never was... I guess I just wanted a friend. One thing led to another and our parents did the rest. I felt like an outsider throughout it all, my mother planned the wedding like she was the one getting married to you, not me. It was never me Rick, and I'm sorry you had to go through that... "

"Yeah, I'm sorry too-" Rick was cut off by his phone ringing as he turned away from his ex wife to look at the text. A few moments ago, his heart was floating in a sea of tears and barely able to beat around the tense atmosphere he had created with Lori, but now the man couldn't keep his heart from racing out of his chest and his eyes from lighting up.

'It's Michonne, she wants to know what's up... I'll tell her it's OK for now. I don't want to burden her.' Rick smiles as he sends his text through, but once he hears Lori getting up and straightening her dress, he finally looked back to acknowledge her.

"I'd better go, I don't want Tara tearing down the town to look for me again... and you seem busy with... her." She mentions towards his phone as Rick nods and reaches into his pocket. He opens his wallet and pulls out a check he'd written up for Lori, a generous sum of money for her time in need, and hands it to her.

Before Lori can utter a word Rick does. "I should get going too... if you need me for anythang, well you got my number." He says as they stand there for a moment and Rick finally gives her a half-hearted smile before lightly embracing one another and slowly pulling away.

"Thank you." Lori said before walking off as Rick watched her, to make sure she made it back to her car safely, but before Lori could make it all the way, she stops short and turns around. "Whatever you got going on with that girl on your phone, you should keep it up. I haven't seen you smile like that in a long time... you deserve that."

* * *

Back in L.A. Michonne had made a long awaited decision regarding her career. She was leaving her show for good, this place that had been a second home to her for four years, was soon to be this metaphorical severed limb.

"So you've already spoken to them?" Sasha asks.

"Yes, they tell me my character will leave on an ambiguous note, in case I ever want to reconsider coming back."

"Michonne, I know you would never make a decision like this on a whim but being on that show meant security, you've never been an out of work actress, not to mention you're a pivotal character with a large fan base." Sasha keeps a calm exterior but in her head she's panicking. 'Michonne was the sixth psychotic, on a show called six psychotics, they're one crazy person short!' Michonne snaps Sasha out of her mental synopsis.

"The fans who love me will follow me into my next venture. This choice has been weighing on my heart for weeks now and this is my final decision."

"Michonne... please stop me if I'm out of line here but, we both know what tomorrow is and... are you sure you're in the right mindset to make a decision like this?"

"I never let my personal life interfere with my work. Acting is to important to me, its my art. Sasha, you work for me, just support my decision and do your job." Michonne is a little heated but Sasha just nods her head.

"Alright, I'm sorry. I'll send out a press release by this afternoon, the Grammys are in two days, squeeze in some time to prepare for that."

Michonne nods her head, there's a sadness but an overwhelming appearance of relief on her face. She can spread her wings now, finally get excited about new prospects, of course there's always room for failure but she's even ready for that. The world looks bigger to her now, but there's still a weight on her heart.


	7. Chapter 7 afraid of living

The day had come. The day where she'd lost Mike three years ago. Its a routine each year to visit his grave, its the one time she has enough courage to do so. Its his final resting place and every time she returns, she connects with the smallest piece of him she still has left.

Kneeling down by Mike's grave, she lays an assortment of flowers beside newly placed ones. Of course she wasn't the first to arrive, she'd been stalling this moment all afternoon. She thinks about Mike, remembering the love he constantly gave her. A memory sneaks into her thoughts, one that makes her smile and shy away. "God I miss you." She says in an almost whisper looking at his name engraved in stone before her. "You'd think after three years I'd get talking to a ghost down packed, but this isn't something I want to practice."

Her phone vibrates in the pocket of her jacket and she pulls it out to see that its Rick, but ignores the call. She can't talk to him just now, he'll hear the want to cry in her voice. "The only thing worse than being alone is being with someone who will never love you. I don't know what you'd think of this _relationship_ I'm in now but..."

Michonne is taken out of her already unstable state, by tears and an urgent need to breath through a fit of hiccups and haggard breaths. An attempt to talk to Mike seams to be a failure. She looks around at the other graves, acutely wondering if any of their headstones were still visited by their loved ones... or even if they were still remember by anyone at all.

She didn't want that to happen to Mike.

She was clinging onto the past in fear that she would forget his face or his laugh. His warm embrace was now just a memory, replaced by the cold wind that lashed against her shaking form.

There were times in which she wanted to be under there with him. Looking towards an empty spot next to his grave made her heart race with fear and guilt.

"Stop it Michonne, he wouldn't want this... I shouldn't want this... just stop." She chanted towards herself, tracing the outline of his name. In everyone else's eyes, this name was just a marking on a piece of stone, but to her, that name was supposed to be her future, her love, and now, its an anchor weighting her down to the past.

"I don't know what the future holds but, I'll stop. I'll stop holding back. I promise you that... but for now... " Michonne pushed herself down and against the warn grass, in front of her past lover's grave.

"I just want to stay here like this... just a while longer."

* * *

Rick is working on new material while in the recording studio. He's under a large amount of strain because he has to pump out songs, enough for an entire album, seeing as he's _striking while the iron's hot,_ as Abraham had put it. He writes from his heart but also cares about the quality of his music, like any real artist would. But he isn't in that unhappy place anymore, which is what he's known for; writing about pain.

Rick is smiling as he thinks of Michonne and knows she's the source of his happiness. Its this connection he has with her, like if they'd meet in a different universe they'd somehow still find their way to each other. The singer is startled by someone's TV blasting in the other room. He gets up with the intention of shutting the door, but hears Michonne's name mentioned by someone on the TV. As he walks into the hall, he's angered to see that there's footage of Michonne in such a private moment. He can't believe he's watching her walking through a cemetery in tears. He hears the entertainment reporter on screen speak, "actress Michonne keeps the tradition of visiting deceased boyfriend's grave. This marks the three year anniversary of rapper/activist Mike Da Makor's passing."

* * *

Michonne had a meeting with Andrea, at her friend's place of business. Andrea was successful in her own right as a pretty well off fashion designer. Andrea wonders why Michonne waited until this day to make alterations to this dress. Was it a way to distract herself from Mike? in any regard she was worried about her.

Michonne is standing on a small pedestal, as Andrea is making some alterations, taking the dress in at exact places along Michonne's figure for the right fit. The actress is miles away and in a cold mood towards the sole person she wanted to open up to.

"Are you okay?" Andrea questions, opening the line of communication.

"I'm fine." Michonne really just wants to pour her feelings out but denies herself the impulse.

"I have pins in your dress Meesh, you don't know where they are but I do."

"You're not gonna stick a pin in me just because you think I'm a wreck. I'm not."

"I don't know, my fingers are a little shaky today."

"There's nothing we need to talk about."

"I hate that you're shutting me out like this."

Michonne scratches her brow as a way to temper herself. She tries to remain stoic as Andrea speaks with compassion. "I miss him too. It was just our small group back then, all trying to make it together."

"I feel guilty..." Michonne says, as she unconsciously begins holding herself.

"Please don't say for still being alive."

"I've been really happy lately... I'm uncomfortable being this happy without him." She'd been happy with her career over the years, and with the things she devoted her life to, but she hadn't been happy like this since Mike, happy in the romantic sense. Its a little unnerving to her.

"Its time for you to move on. You can't save yourself for someone who isn't here anymore." Andrea states in a soft yet stern tone towards her friend.

"I know..." Michonne says sighing with this sinking feeling in her stomach. "I'm scared... scared of leaving him behind. Andrea, I still have pictures of him in my house... what am I supposed to do with them? Box him up and put him away?"

"You can do whatever you want. Closing the door on Mike isn't you shutting yourself off from his memory, just that part of your past. Someone really wise once told me that if you aren't scared you aren't living."

"Maybe I am tired of _not living_."

"You look like you really want a hug right now?" Andrea smiles tilting her head up at Michonne.

Michonne stiffly nods as Andrea surveys the actress' body language. "But the pins are still in your dress?"

"Yea..." Michonne nods again bursting out in shy laughter with her eyes teary.

Andrea wipes a tear from her own eyes as she approaches Michonne. "I told you I know where all the pins are." The blond laughs as she strategically hugs her best friend, who carefully hugs her back. "Thanks Drea."

"Its what I'm here for." The blonde carefully pulls back and looks at Michonne from head to toe, "I love you in this dress, you look like a sexy banana."

Michonne just laughs in response.

* * *

Michonne came down to Rick's studio, after avoiding his calls all day. She felt the need to do what she does best, drop in on him. She sees him before he can notice her, and he looks so unhappy, scribbling on the sheet of paper before him and rubbing at his forehead in a taxing display. She feels bad, maybe he needed her and she couldn't be there for him.

"Are you okay?" She asked him while approaching him slowly.

He just nods his head, unsure of how to open up to her. He wants to know that she's okay but he can't bring up Mike with no inkling to how she'd take it, and frankly he thought it wasn't his place. I mean who was he to her really?

She speaks with some casualness, aiming to give him some confidence on his music, assuming that's what was bothering him. She didn't think that he'd be this distressed about something to do with her. "I spent a night listening to your music once. It was beautiful but..."

"But what?"

"There was a lot of hurt there."

"There was... writing all that down was therapeutic for me. When I felt like I couldn't talk to anyone, it was a good outlet." He speaks about his music, but his tone is almost urging her to talk about an underlying issue.

"Your music helps people." She wanted to tell him it helped her but left those thoughts to herself. "It helps us all remember that we're still human and we all go through our ups and downs. You're still here Rick, and that's what matters."

"You're still here too." He wanted to tell her he knew her loss. He could see some of it still in her. He'd lost Lori but she was still alive, there was still the option of final words but with Michonne, she'd never get to hear them from Mike. She knew what he meant; who he meant. And could only appreciate the fact that he only said that one line, that he didn't pry about Mike.

"You're a good woman. I can tell there's something on your mind but instead you're more worried about me. There's so much that _you_ do, that's for the benefit of others too."

"Not everything... this relationship isn't-"

"We're both benefiting from this." Rick's tone is a bit stronger than he intended it to be, but he wanted to make sure that he could get his message across. Both the spoken and unspoken one.

"Are we really? Because you could be moving on with someone, in an actual relationship right now. Instead of pretending to be in this lie with me."

"I'd rather be in this lie with _you_, than with somebody else."

The room is silent again as Rick looks down as if he's said something he shouldn't of. She could back out easily and he could do the same, especially with how speculative their relationship was to the media. Its gossip and chance sightings.

They both treat the situation as if they have no choice in the matter, when subconsciously they are choosing to sink deeper into the lie, together.

"No one's around Rick, you're not my leading man when its just the two of us."

Rick nods with an understanding but in his head, he's thinking. 'Maybe this is the way I want to act when we're alone.'

There eyes connect and they stare at each other for longer than two people who were just partners, would be able to stand. She wanted to tell him that this stopped being a lie for her, and he wanted to show her more than tell her, the same thing. But the timing is off, and love can't start in the memory of loss, so he lets her go. She gives him a subtle head nod with the parting word, "goodnight" and forces a smile to hide her sadness from the day. She leaves, he forces himself to let her walk out that door.


	8. Chapter 8 The Right Tune

Michonne stares at her mirrored reflection in the metal doors before her. This was Rick's night. He's preforming for the largest venue in music, but at the same time, its there coming out as a couple, there's no turning back now. She walks from between the opening elevator doors then down the hotel hall towards Rick's suite. She releases a cooling sigh before knocking on his door. As the door flies open, the look they give each other are matching gazes of amazement, that leaves them both silent taking each other in.

Michonne's vision is delighted with Rick standing in front of her in a custom tailored, charcoal gray suit with a white tie against his white dress shirt. He's even gone the extra mile, appearing clean shaven courtesy of Michonne's suggestion.

Michonne breaks the lack of communicating between them with a statement. "You know I'm getting sick of this hotel, you need to find a house here soon."

"The houses around here aren't exactly my type, there all gigantic for no good reason."

"Then remind me to never invite you over my place."

She walks into his hotel room in a backless yellow gown that clings to her figure like a glove and moves like liquid when she walks. Whenever she's dressed up like this, he can't help but to marvel at her for a bit longer than usual. Her beauty is unique, captivating, and ever present, now he isn't just nervous about whether he'll win tonight but how he'll conduct himself around her.

She turns around looking at him struggling to shake his nerves off, her eyes drift to his wrists and sees he's missing one final aspect to his wardrobe. "You're missing cufflinks." His eyes look in the direction of them on his dresser but she approaches them before he can take a step. "Here, I'll put them on for you." She says walking up to him. He watches her as she's tending to his wrists and feels his nervousness draining from his body, its the effect she has on him. But then he gets distracted by her plump lips coated in burgundy red, its the first time he really notices her mouth and those heart shaped lips.

She realizes this is the closest in proximity they've ever been. Being this close feels normal yet punishing to her want for him. And she hates to admit this to herself, admit that she's just like any other red blooded woman who desires him, she repeated in her head that this was to be professional, but her yearning for him is getting in the way. She has to say something, anything to distance herself from carnal thoughts.

"You look good, at least you don't have to worry about that." She complemented her date for the night.

"You look...wow...like a..." Rick couldn't find the right words to sum up his admiration for her, in any and all her different attires.

"Sexy banana?" Michonne finished his sentence for him.

"Sure why not," they laugh.

"I know you're a little nervous about preforming tonight."

"I'm only preforming though, I'm still upset that my album wasn't released in time to get nominated for anythang."

"This year you're just preforming, next year you'll be nominated." She reminded him as he nodded in understanding.

"Good to know I'm attending this thang with my biggest fan."

"Well second biggest, I'm behind that woman who wanted to have your babies."

"There's a way you can top her Michonne."

She laughs and slaps his chest, "come on lets go before we're late."

She walks over to where she'd placed her clutch and picked it up. Rick is slowly approaching her like he's deciphering whether or not to make a move. Michonne can feel him nearing, and just the thought of him being so close to her again, heats her entire being. She turns facing him and looks up to his contemplative stare. All he wants to do is kiss her. All she wants him to do is show some sign that he might. But he clenches his jaw and looks down at the ground, '_she doesn't feel the same way_' he thinks to himself. Michonne sighs and turned to her clutch, keeping her hands busy as she searched through the small purse.

Rick speaks softly to her. "The song I'm singing tonight its new and it means a lot to me. I'll want to know your take on it."

She gives him a small smile and nods her head. "You'll have my full attention." She places a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it with affection. His eyes close as his cheeks bloom with a smile at the feel of her lips, against the side of his face.

* * *

After braving the red carpet and the media circus, the awards show had begun. Well into the night, Michonne is seated with a now empty seat beside her, as Rick's performance was underway. Legendary gospel singer Tyreese Williams comes out with opera singer Karen to present the next performance of the night. Tyreese speaks first after glancing over at a smiling Karen. "Our next performer's recent album has gone platinum, with over one million copies sold within its first week. With his personable lyrics and signature voice there's no doubt he's leaving his mark on country music."

Karen takes over for Tyreese finishing the introduction. "Here to preform for the very first time, an acoustic version of his latest single, 'Cloud Covered Sunshine' its Rick Grimes.

Michonne claps and sits up proudly in her seat, her eyes peer around at the rest of the audience, a mixture of musical artists and important people to the industry. This many people seeing him and recognize him for his talent, all in one room.

Rick walks out, unbuttoning his blazer and takes a seat with his guitar. The performance is so minimal and pure, its just him with a light shining from behind, as if to create a special heavenly glow. She's still admiring the way he looks in that suit, sharp would be a mediocre way to describe him. He brings his lips near his mike to sing.

_"Went out to the park today, what could I say it was a gloomy day,_

_ prayed and cried for some sunshine, but none would come my way."_

_"Sat near a bablin' brook, surface was still but when I looked, it took my breath away." _

_"Because her eyes were as clear, as the rain."_

Rick slowly strums his guitar, trying to feel the rhythm of his tapping foot. Looking at his crowd he continues, as he locks eyes with Michonne.

_"Some say she's a tundra, even a storm, so why do I feel so damn warm_

_ when her tears fall onto me fa-a-ace."_

_"Some doubt our love, say it's a lie, tellin' ol' Rick to not even try,_

_ but I'm blessed by her natural gra-a-ace."_

_ "So I wont ignore the pain on your face."_

Rick nods along with the strumming of his guitar as Michonne is feeling a wave of emotions hitting her to the core.

_"Love is covered by a darkened cloud, I feel the rain drops falling down. _

_Your clouds can't hide the pain of your face. _

_Thought I wanted never ending sunshine, but it was an ideal that was only mine, and it obscured you, without a tra-a-ace... now all I ever pray for is rain..."_

Rick's goes into a lively guitar solo, the tempo is quicker and different from his usual slow melody. The song is so meaningful with a touch of sorrow still but in a way its full of life and promise. The tone of his voice is cooling down, marking the ending lyrics to his song.

_"but only so when tears fall down your face... _

_I can wipe your pain away..."_

He pauses for a moment as the crowd goes from silent to a roar as applause when he stands up from his modest seat to acknowledge the crowd and look for Michonne. Unable to see her in the mass of enamored strangers, he nods and begins to walk off the stage. Michonne could feel her eyes filling with joy and pride for Rick, as a few tears threatened to fall and obscure her barley makeup touched face.

She forces herself to push those feelings for Rick down once more, worried that an onlooker may get the the wrong idea from her. She could see people congratulating Rick on his walk back towards his seat. She nods to him as he sits beside her for the rest of the night, both stealing glaces at one another from time to time, saving unspoken words for later.

* * *

There night was coming to an end. Most of the time it was a little tense, they were two people desperately wanting to speak there peace in a room where the time to do so wasn't an option. After the night was over and the limo pulled up to Michonne's mansion, Rick walks Michonne to her door. They stroll side by side together neither of them realizing that they were holding hands until they'd stopped walking. She smiles and pulled her hand away, as Rick blushed an made an unnecessary apology.

"That song so was beautiful, and a little different." Michonne says, just craving to hear Rick's voice again.

"Its because I didn't write it about my past I wrote it about my present. Michonne that song was about you."

Michonne was at a loss for words, how and why would Rick write such an intimate song about her?

"Yesterday I saw you on the news, those vultures who decide to call themselves paparazzi were there while you were grieving. I had to watch that, feeling helpless because I wasn't there to protect you. I kept calling you-"

"I know and I'm sorry I couldn't pick up."

"Its alright because after I couldn't get you I wrote. I wrote that entire song and planned on preforming it tonight so that you could hear it. I wanted you to know that you had me...and not for pretend, for real." Rick leans in and places a timid kiss on Michonne's cheek. "You don't need to say anythang but, I needed you to know where I stand. Goodnight Michonne." Michonne watches the man as he walks away, but only so far before she calls his name. Rick turns around looking at her as she smiles and says. "You wanna come in?"

_A/N: So the next chapter should be very interesting, no? The song is original. The meaning behind the lyrics may be explained later.  
_


	9. Chapter 9 Grimonne

Michonne had invited him in, the night couldn't end this soon. If it meant just talking the whole time, she was fine with that. She was ready for that. She wanted to be with him, in a space they could be unguarded. Its just the two of them, without the hysteria of there relationship, orchestration of there publicists, or prodding from friends.

They sat together in Michonne's grand living room on the soft comfort of her couch. They'd made themselves comfortable, removed shoes, Rick removed his blazer loosened his tie, and enjoyed drinking the concoction Michonne had made. Two glasses of whiskey stones with premium Almendrado Tequila poured over them.

'I hope he doesn't think I'm trying to liquor him up...I just didn't have any ice. Shit this drink is too strong.' Michonne says internally as Rick's thinking in his head. 'Can't believe she's trying to get me drunk. I must come off tense. I wonder if my shoulders are up?' Rick discreetly takes note of himself.

Whenever Michonne's eyes are down, observing her drink in silence, Rick is starring at her. Whenever she looks up, he looks down at his own glass before taking a drink for himself, getting used to the slight burn in his throat.

"Rick...my way isn't going to compare to your grand declaration but... I have feelings for you too." She needed him to hear the words straight from her mouth, leaving nothing to interpretation. He'd put all his cards on the table and she had to do the same.

She sees the relief on his face then that bashful, charm fused smile of his. "I didn't know if you felt the same. I was fully prepared to leave you with egg on my face."

"I'm happy you sang that song, and even happier that you were brave enough to tell me how you felt. I have to admit, I don't know if I could've done what you did tonight."

"Are you sure you're not just taking pity on me because I'm a sap?" He joked.

"You've been sappy since the day we met, its too late to change my taste now." She joked.

Rick sits up, adjusting his body to face hers. "Why isn't there anything wrong with you?"

"Huh?"

"You don't seam to have any flaws at all."

"I have a gigantic flaw...I'm scared a lot, I'm even scared about this, you and me. Its hard to let people in, and even once I do its not easy being venerable with them." She would never say this out loud but Mike's death killed something in her. Something she wondered if Rick could resurrect.

"I don't see that as a flaw." He says shaking his head.

She sighs. "Fine, Its a hurdle."

"When I was married, I didn't see that something was wrong, or maybe I did and refused to acknowledge it. My entire marriage ended up being one sided, I never saw her being a lesbian coming. Don't think anyone did...needless to say it gave me some trust issues." He didn't want to outright say that his biggest fear is having those trust issues with her. Waiting for a day where the rug would be pulled out from under him. In his head he knows that couldn't be possible, she's his perfect fit.

Michonne nodded her head as Rick continued with his sliver lining, "but if that relationship didn't end, we wouldn't have met that night, and I wouldn't have spent all that time collecting apple martinis for you."

"Your service was amazing by the way." She smiled at him reminiscing on the fight night they'd met.

"I know, you tipped me. I came home with all this money in my pockets."

Michonne covered her face laughing in embarrassment for a moment then shyly looked towards him. "I don't remember also treating you like a stripper I'm sorry. Remembering that night, I swore you were fucking with me."

Rick laughs. "I was trying to flirt with you, didn't you catch that?"

"Can't catch what wasn't be slung correctly."

"Ouch."

Michonne laughed looking at him while he faked being hurt. After laughter simmered down, he notices this look in her eyes while she leaned forward to set her drink down. A flash of somberness, that she discards so quickly that his words to sooth her, might have been taking as coming out of nowhere. "Your giving me your heart and I'll do my best to take care of it. I can't promise that I wont screw up, but I can swear that I'll always try to make it up to you."

Michonne looked away from him briefly, flicking a tear from under her eye. Rick notices this and already feels like he'd made a mistake with his candor. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you." She turns to him and she isn't sad...she's something but sadness doesn't describe the look. A part of her hates every time he opens his mouth, every word is pushing her to fall in love with him, and she wouldn't believe anything he's telling her, if it weren't for the sincerity in his eyes.

"No...that's exactly what I needed to hear." Her feelings for him aren't normal, they don't take time to manifest like normal, they hit her hard like a ton of bricks she wasn't quick enough to dodge.

"You have a piano?" Rick says distracting her from her thoughts.

She looks behind her with a smile then back to him. "Yea, you play?"

"A little. I'm not to good at it."

Michonne smiles at him knowing this is just him being modest. She stands up and walks around the couch towards the large instrument. Rick is to preoccupied with checking her out that its only her suggestion towards him that gets him to his feet. "Come on, show off a little." She said.

He followed her towards the piano as she sat down on the small bench. He sat closely beside her trying out a few keys, she's watching him adoringly as he tries to tackle a few notes from the melody he'd sung her that night.

"Since you're playing should I hop on top of the piano?"

"That's the actress in you, always wanting to put on a show."

"I'm a very modest actress."

"Yes, you in that dress is very modest, my mistake."

"Hey." She laughs and playfully slaps his chest.

"I love you in that dress." He said as she can feel his fingertips trailing down the center of her exposed back. "Your starting something you wont be able to finish" she teased him.

He smiles, "if I don't get to finish I get to keep coming back for more."

She smiled staring down at the keys as she feels him brushing some of her dreads from her shoulder. Suddenly she's at the mercy of his soft lips leaving a steady stream of kisses up her arm, a few across her shoulder then streaming up her neck. His nerve to kiss her had literally been creeping up on her. Her eyelids fell heavy as she could feel the shiver of her bottom lip. Rick heavily sucked her neck, his lips lifted at level with hers as she turned her face to his. There eyes connected for mere seconds before quickly shutting to focus on the feel of their lips pressing together.

They expected sweetness in each other with that first kiss but both had taken the approach of hungry and passionate. Both share equal tastes of almond flavored tequila on massaging tongues. He stands and grabs her by the waist bringing her up with him. There pressed tightly together, his hands studies the intricacies of her figures while hers removed his tie and flicked a few buttons to his shirt open.

Rick and Michonne are in such a strong entrancement, as he lifted her up a bit and placed her up and against the piano. A loud bong of the key's under Michonne's added weight, startled them both out of their kiss and into an awkward set of giggles.

"And that's how I play the piano." She jokes as he laughs and kisses her lips, sweet affection that she returns. He's waited so long for her, a woman with a body that made him think of sex, and a face that made him think of angels.

They are as close as two people can possibly be, bodies molded together, minds free of thoughts as Rick's hands finds themselves at Michonne's shoulders, freeing them from the straps holding her dress up.

* * *

In his office the next afternoon, Abraham is counting tabloid covers with Rick and Michonne on them, like cards in a deck. He leans out of his lounging position in his chair to dial his partner in crime Sasha, but the TV he'd been ignoring derails his attempt. On another addition of CMZ, Carol has a very orange tan while walking out to the room of youthful _reports._ "Okay, top stories?"

Maggie spins around in her chair. "Rick Grimes preformed at the Grammys last night and he did an amazing job."

Maggie is then interrupted by Zack, who pitches the bigger story according to comments on the CMZ website. "Prior to that he crushed the hearts of all his female fans, by showing up with Michonne who looked like this..."

Maggie sits back in her seat having no interest in the romantic entanglement. That excitement was reserved for Beth, who wasn't supposed to be in for work today. Zack hands Carol a lovey dovey picture of Rick and his vixen on the red carpet together. "Wow, they look great. Hey where's Beth? She should be here for this."

Beth comes barging into the room, like clock work waving her arms in the air, "I'm here! I'm here! She screams rushing towards the empty chair by her sister. As Beth gets settled in, Zack continues with his report. "This morning our men got footage of Rick entering his hotel, wearing the same suit he'd worn last night. The man is strutting, can't even call it a walk of shame." Beth leans over starring at the footage on Zack's computer screen then squeals making carol laugh.

The program actually shows what Beth is starring at on her co worker's screen. Abraham watches Rick looking like a disheveled mess with an extra pep in his step. "These two are really going the extra mile to make this look believable." Abraham thinks to himself. He watches his client tare through paparazzi. Two large men apart of hotel security help the country singer inside, before blocking shouting camera men from entering the establishment.

"What would there combined names be?" Carol wonders.

"We can call them RAM, Rick and Michonne..." Zack suggests.

Beth nods. "That's kind of awesome, but how bout something cuter like Mick."

Maggie yawns. "How about Richonne?"

Beth looks at her sister. "You don't get an input in this because you didn't believe in their love. Unlike me who called it from day one."

"I know how about Grimonne." Carol suggests.

"Ohhhhhh!" The entire room aws in approval, expect for Maggie and Gareth who's in the back taking a brooding selfie for his instagram followers. "Grimonne is gonna be my new screen savor." Beth says sliding her chair towards her desk.

"I still can't believe these two are an actual thing." Maggie says looking through some of Zack's pictures, each photo of the pair is more intimate then the next.

Abraham scowls seeing the cranky brunette back on his screen. "She's still a non believer." Searching around for his remote, he continues to hear Maggie's voice playing on his TV screen.

"Onto exciting news..." Maggie says with joy in her tone, "late night host Glenn Rhee has ended his engagement with actress Rosita Espinosa."

Beth gasps and covers her mouth to hide her jaw dropping. "Oh my god, that's so sad...how is that good news?!"  
Maggie shrugs her shoulders looking around, almost shocked that no one is as happy as she is. "I don't know, I jumped for joy when I heard it."

_A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I couldn't find any time to write. I finally had to sit down and focus while listening to the craziest music playlist ever. Anyways, the return of Shane and Andrea will be next._


	10. Chapter 10 a man with sensitivity

Michonne returned home after running a quick errand. It had been an hour since Rick left, but she swore she could still feel his presence. Walking into her kitchen, she stops at a curious display. One of her vases acting as a home to a dozen long stem red roses. "Who the hell was in my house?" On a hunch she yells out. "Andrea?!"

"Yea?!" she hears the blonde scream from another room. She sighs in relief then sees Andrea coming towards her.

"How long have you been here?"

"About thirty minuets. Were you expecting someone else? Ya know someone known for wearing tight jeans and a hip swivel." Andrea chuckles while admiring the roses she'd accepted from the florist, when Michonne was out.

"I'm really regretting giving you a key to my place." Michonne walks towards the flowers. Rick teased about sending her something special before he left, so she knows he's behind the beautiful array.

Andrea watches Michonne enjoy the sweet gesture. "So I found something interesting this morning when you weren't here. It was on the floor." Andrea pulls out a tie. Rick's tie! "There were also a few oddly placed fingerprints on top of the piano."

Michonne snatches the tie from the blonde's clutches. "What the hell is this? CSI: Andrea."

"You were letting loose with that country stallion."

Michonne refuses to say anything and occupies herself with arranging and rearranging some of the roses before her.

"I thought you said when the two of you were alone, he'd better keep his hands to himself. Now he's putting things inside you. Well three cheers for progression, am I right?"

* * *

Rick returns to his hotel suite startled by the invasion of Shane; who he didn't think he'd see since Shane had been out of town on a series of concerts with his band.

"So they let anyone in my room when I'm not here?" Rick questions, annoyed with Shane wearing one of his t-shirts, stretching the material to bits, but he's also tired from his sleepover with Michonne. All he wants to do is shower, sleep, eat, and see her again but he knows he has to entertain this abrupt arrival.

"Slipped the maid a hundred dollar bill and she let me in. It's gon' be so funny when she find you dead in here." Shane jokes, as Rick wonders why everyone close to him had a dark sense of humor. Then Shane turns around with a swollen nose, slightly shifted to the left.

"What the hell happen to your noise?"

"It was my super fan Randall, he got the jump on me."

"The guy who keeps writing you all those aggressive love letters? "

"I keep em in a black box labeled Pandora, I was planning on burning them all but they're really disturbing... the last one was about how we would be great together and how I should get rid of you... it was fucked up... I think he love hates me."

"Shane-"

"I want to write his crazy ass back but I don't know what to say... hey man, I aint into dudes but even if I was, I'd never set foot near your sociopathic ass. I'm on stage, getting pelted with thongs then all of a sudden this crazy son of a bitch comes flying up like a fish leaping out of water, and boom right in the nose-"

"Shane!"

"And you know I can't play right unless I'm eighty percent drunk, so after the hit, I'm wobbling around for a solid ten seconds. Why do you look so disheveled? You get kidnapped or something?"

"Sha-"

"What?! Why you keep calling me for? I'm right here!"

"You need to get a restraining order against that guy! And why are you wearing my shirt?!"

"Mine had blood on it from when Randall hit me. I needed to change. With my reputation people would assume I killed the kid. I was gonna do it too but you know...the crowd...witnesses, big breasted woman in the front row, I got side tracked."

Rick is dragging his feet by Shane in order to get to the bathroom behind him. "Whoa Rick, what's up with your neck?" Shane grabbed Rick's collar, but Rick pulls away from his inquisitive friend.

"It's nothing." He covered his neck as Shane began to smirk and punch Rick in the shoulder repeatedly. "Then why do you smell like perfume and tears? You had sex!"

* * *

"Was he a crier? Like when you made love did he start to weep? I bet it was so beautiful but awkward."

Michonne attempts to say something but doesn't. She'd rather let Andrea ramble on and tire herself out.

"I imagine he hugged you during intercourse, and couldn't thrust because he doesn't want to hurt you in any way. "

Michonne is still unresponsive even as Andrea is dreaming up an even odder scenario.

"I bet right before you reached your climax he tells you, _you're the moon_. He starts to sing to you, he has his guitar with him. And his tears are raining down on your face...fucking up your mascara."

"Okay this needs to stop."

Andrea looks to her finally vocal friend. "That's what he said when he first heard you moan. He knows pain is accompanied by pleasure but he can't see you hurt like that, he spends the rest of the night cradling you and whispering, "_you're so beautiful_."

"Does everyone think he's as sensitive as you're describing?"

Andrea nods. "Pretty much."

* * *

"Why would you think I cry during sex? I never cry! Okay, I cried one time."

"But you cried so hard. It was really uncomfortable for everyone around. You weren't even choking back tears, you were strangling them-to fucking death! But that's all behind you now. I'm happy for you man. I honestly don't know how you've survived without sex for this long. I'm sure ya' balls are praising Jesus right now."

Rick switches gears from himself onto Shane. "So besides getting your nose broken, how was the concert last night?"

"Well I screwed a girl with three nipples, but I think one was a just a mole. I tried to tell her to get it checked, but she swore it was a nipple so I let it go... I think it made her feel special."

"How are we friends again?"

"I don't know, its one of those friendships that are so strong, but you don't know how they started. Honestly I don't remember how we met. We can't be the only weird set of friends out there, right?"

* * *

"Is it a mole or a nipple! Mole or nipple?! Meesh?!"

"Stop screaming...I think its a mole, Andrea you need to get it checked." Andrea then lowers her shirt in sadness feeling a little less special. "I can't believe this. On my online dating profile I wrote that I had three nipples, its in all caps."

Andrea was an anomaly. She would romanticize Rick constantly, but pursue men who were the exact opposite. Removing a few throw pillows out of her way, Michonne sat on the couch beside her. "So how was your night?"

"I hooked up with my dream man. It was amazing, everything I hoped for, but then afterwards he called me Hellen." Michonne was instantly disgusted but not surprised considering Andrea's type, assholes. Andrea turns to her friend. "No matter how weird the love making with Rick is, he's a modern day Romeo, don't be like me and settle for a Tybalt. Promise me...you'll never be with a Tybalt!"

"I promise, okay? Listen, if you think its time to look into a different type of man, you shouldn't be afraid to see what's out there."

"Be honest with me. What's it really like being with Rick? If I never find love I want to live vicariously through you."

Michonne only takes but a second to think about it. "It feels like...whenever I look into his eyes I can see an entire future with him."

"So I'm supposed to see the future when I look into his eyes? Well I guess I'm gonna be alone forever because all I saw were pupils."

* * *

"You like this girl with the extra nipple, don't you?" Rick made an assumption, since Shane's conquests were usually so frequent that they all melted together in his brain. He'd never specifically brought up any of his flings to Rick before. To single out this one woman, extra nipple or not, meant something.

"Listen it doesn't matter if I like her or not. I'm not meant for commitment. We're not all like you." Shane's voice reeked of disappointment in himself, as if in this way he could never measure up.

"You say that now but one day you're gonna meet a woman and everything will change. You'll start feeling things again, and not just your heart racing when she's around, but you'll be thinking up scenarios in your head about a life with her, and you wouldn't be able to keep your hands off of her. It'll be like everything that you are...wants everything that she is."

While Rick waxes poetically about his relationship with Michonne, Shane pulls on his too tight t-shirt trying to gain mobility. Noticing Rick, he acts indifferently on the topic at hand. "I didn't ask for that entire speech but okay."

* * *

Michonne answers her front door seeing Rick with a smile as soon as he sees her. "I got the gift you sent to my hotel room. I actually read the card this time." Rick pulls out the small card from his pocket reading the short message on the inside. "Thanks for the sex."

"There's no name on that card, that could've been from any gal." She joked closing the door behind him, then turned around watching his arms wrapping around her waist, bringing her in close.

"I'm sorry I'm such a cad." he smiles and kisses her.

She kisses him back. "Yea you're a dirty dog, I don't even want you kissing me right now." She spoke to tease as he nodded and kissed her again, his hands lightly squeezing her ass. With a small giggle she speaks in between short sweet kisses linking herself to him. "Come on, I've made us dinner." She steps beside him as he held her hand during their walk to her dining room. "That's exactly what I wanted, you and a hot meal." He smiles.


	11. Chapter 11 Normal People

"I trusted you. I trusted you and you betrayed me." Michonne speaks with the subtle appearance of hatred just before she grabs the collar of Rick's shirt. She moves in close enough to almost meet his lips and whispers. "I should kill you where you stand."

Rick shakes his head to dispute her fury. "No! Don't! You need me! I'm the only one who can fix this-make it right again!" He's only allowed a single step backwards as she still has him by the shirt.

Michonne is enthralled with rage and staring menacingly at him. "The only thing that's gonna need fixing around here is you."

"You wouldn't hurt me...we started this thing together!"

"...and I'll finish it on my own_._"

Rick looks at the scrip he's reading from, he's squinting as he lost where he was. Michonne sighs and removes her hand from his collar. "Really?" She sets her hands on her hips, flushing the emotion from her face, but still exhibits minimal annoyance.

"I'm sorry, I'm not really trained to do this."

"Its ok, we'll pick up where we left off. You ready?" She smiles warmly at him.

"I'm ready." He nods then clears his throat getting back into the swing of things. He steers his sights to the script once again, and gasps before looking into her eyes, completely stunned. "She shot him."

"Of course she did. How long can you stand there and let someone talk you out of shooting them."

Michonne excuses herself to answer her phone, which had been ringing every few hours since he arrived. He never asks about her calls, especially since he could see how tense she'd become during every conversation. He rests his hands on his hips and searches around the cream and gold color scheme of her living room, then spots another one of her scripts, seeing how its written up with her own personal notes. He smiles admiring the dedication to her character. When she comes back, he takes the moment to bring up her scribbles, verses hinting about the subject of her calls.

"What are all these notes?" He asks while his eyes are attached to the scribblings in blue ink.

"Mostly cues, internal thoughts I need to radiate on my face, some notes on particular quarks she's had all these seasons." Michonne gently takes the script from his hands, and looks down scrolling over selective text with a pink highlighter.

"Shaky hand?" He asks reading the bolded letters underlines towards the bottom of her script.

Michonne glances down at a different scene further down on her script, the beginning of the final interaction with her character's husband. There's only a few pages after that scene, and it hits her that this character wouldn't be around anymore. "This is a moment where her two worlds are colliding, her husband from her life as a loving family woman knows that she's this murder, so she's faced with this moment where she has to kill him. Its her two worlds coming head to head and one aspect of her life has to take over the other, she needs to kill, but he's her husband...so its a struggle...shaky hand."

"Wow..."

"Yeah I know and I've been playing this duel minded gem for four years."

"And now you're leaving it."

"I'm sad but not heartbroken, especially since it was my decision to go. I've been auditioning for an action hero movie." He doesn't see her smile but can clearly hear the sudden thrill in her voice. "Comic book adaptations are huge now. Its the same strong-not one to be messed with character I'm attracted to but, its something different at the same time. God, to kick that much ass on the big screen..." Michonne exhales knowing not to get her hopes up. Its smarter to leave plenty of room for disappointment, especially for such a big character. A more unknown actresses would be more then likely to get the role, a face that isn't synonymous with another character, but she just can't help herself.

"This is the most I've heard you speak about anythang," he laughs lightly, "you must be excited."

"I am." She smiled at him. "I feel like I could get this, I've been working my ass off during every call back. And if I get the part I'll get to use a sword."

"You with a sword, my mind wouldn't be able to take it."

"You've seen me slice and dice tomatoes before dinner, image that but with a bigger blade and a mass of dead bodies."

"Try not to smile that wide when you talk to other people about this role okay?" He teases her as she laughs and slaps his thigh.

She smiled when she felt his arm around her shoulder, bringing her into a small cuddle as they sat on her couch. Being around Rick made her an optimist but at heart she was a realist. 'I shouldn't be getting my hopes up for this movie.' She understands the limits of her profession, and needless to say, a tolerance for 'no' became her best alley.

He notices she's been quiet for too long and realizes she's in her head again. Looking down at her head on his shoulder, he can practically visualize her thoughts.

"What are you worried about?" His voice was so soft and his tone so concerning. It left this free space for her to freely open up to him.

"I don't want to go back to the early days of my career. For months I had roles with hardly any dialogue, felt more like a presence than an actual character most of the time."

"I don't see you going back to that. I don't need you fearin' somethin' that aint gon' happen."

"I love your optimism, I want it to rub off on me."

"You need to decompress. So after we get though running lines, I'll take you out tonight, some place low key like a bowling alley. We'll wear those ugly bowling shoes, snack on some hot dogs, it'll take ya mind of thangs."

Michonne looks down at her lap smiling to herself at the sweet suggestion, then looks up at him. "Sounds like you're taking me on the most lax date ever. I should warn you I'm not to good at bowling."

"I'm a very hands on teacher." He indicates with a grin.

"Oh, so that's where my enjoyment comes in." She teased.

"I'm sorry if its not romantic, we can do anything you want if you hate the idea. Its just that the place I have in mind, we could go there and no one would bother us. For the night we could be out in the world like normal people."

"Actually that sounds really..."

"Sad?"

"No, sweet. I haven't been a _normal_ person in years."

* * *

This was the first date they should of had. Something normal, without any pressure. And Michonne, despite her usual glamorous wardrobe looked just as desirable in her jeans and t-shirt, an ensemble Rick shamelessly ogled her figure in.

As the date progressed, Rick bowled like an amateur pro while Michonne's constant gutter balls didn't get her down, but prompted her to preform many undeserved victory dances. During her most recent gutter ball, Rick smirks, his blue stare glued to her swaying hips. He watches her in a way the takes from the intended innocence of the game.

Michonne's rhythmic derrière has a vice grip on his attention before a more pressing issue distracts him. To his left a group of young men gawking at her, he glances around the rest of the bowling alley to see even more eyes on her. Sitting up with anxiety, his girl has a good percent of the room's observation. He assumes its because of her dancing, instead of the fact that she was this well known face. He seams on edge when she returns. She stares at the scoreboard completely oblivious to her surroundings, while Rick refocuses his mind solely on her, and uses the moment to tease. "You know gutter balls are a bad thang right?"

"I was giving you the advantage before I demolished ya." She playfully retorts to save face.

"But you've rolled nothing but gutter balls. There's giving me a lead and then there's forfeiting." Rick takes a second and looks at her sideways, "are you losing on purpose because you think its cute?"

She laughed. "No! I have really bad aim okay? I think I'm throwing straight when I'm actually throwing diagonally. But you get a few dances out of it so shut up."

His laugh is perfectly timed with her emerging shy smile. Getting up to take his turn, Michonne sat back discreetly checking him out. Within seconds of him getting a good distance away from her, the young men he'd noticed before secretly approach Michonne while he's distracted. Rick finally manages to bowl less than perfectly, and turns around expecting to see some snide from Michonne, but instead she's laughing and surrounded by what he now realizes were just fans.

"Hey when you sawed that guy's arm off last season, me and my bros totally freaked. It was the best scene ever." A lanky brunette boy said in complete amazement of the actress.

"Thank you, I freaked too." Michonne smiled at the starstruck teen then his friends. Rick stands beside his date and wraps an arm around her waist. The teens all seem confused by his presence. Their stares annoy the singer who tilts his head encouraging the lead boy to speak up. "Somethin' wrong son?"

"Aint you that sad guy that sings all the time?" Michonne's jaw drops while Rick tries not to get too offended. "Yea I guess that's me." He lowers his head and laughs off the less then flattering portrayal.

"You guys want some autographs?" Michonne speaks to bring the now uncomfortable interaction between there small group to end. She's sweet approachable Michonne now, who doesn't go off on fans. When the boys leave, Rick looks over at her and half-heartedly jokes, "where are all my fans?"

"Hey..." Michonne steps in front of him moving her arms around him while he pulls her in close, "you have your biggest fan right here, and she tends to get pretty frisky."

Her smile meets with his devilish grin. "Is that right?"

"Just wait till you get her home, she'll do things to you, naughty things." He leans with a kiss, indulging in the suppleness of her full lips. Michonne eagerly deepens the kiss feelings as if there was no one else in the vicinity but just the two of them.

* * *

The rest of the date, Michonne is constantly accosted by well meaning fans, all sorry for imposing on her. Its enough to have Rick wonder just how famous was she? Every new person seems to bother her at first, but warm her heart within seconds.

Michonne grabs a bowling ball and throws it with all her might, but sadly she still sucks at the game and poor Rick has to watch the bowling ball leap over two lanes before striking someone else's pins down.

She curses under her breath as a giant muscular man, who's game had just been ruined by Michonne's haywire ball, charges towards the couple. Rick stands in front of Michonne as the man approaches. Towering over them he speaks with a base so heavy, Rick and Michonne's overactive imaginations can almost feel the room vibrate.

"I need to talk to the lady." The man says as Rick tries to talk him down.

"I know we may have knocked down some of your pins, but this doesn't need to happen right now."

The man reaches into his inside coat pocket as Michonne and Rick flinch. He pulls out a pen and paper smiling at the actress.

"Can I have your autograph, my son is a really big fan of your show. You're his favorite character."

"Ohh your son." Michonne laughs relieved that the man didn't do anything drastic.

"Alright I'm lying, its actually for me."

"Well you are my biggest fan so far." Michonne smiles and accepts his pen and paper. "What's your name?"

The man blushes "Tiny...its my prison name." Tiny then rolls up his sleeve revealing a portrait of a naked Michonne depicted as an angel with strategically placed clouds over her bust and pelvis area. Michonne's eyes widen with delight at the stunning tattoo. "Oh my god this is so beautiful." She says moving in to get a closer look. While Rick's thoughts are like a freight train. 'Is he serious? Is she serious? Is this a joke? I swear if Shane sent him over here to mess up our date-she should rub the tattoo see if its real.'

"Tiny you seem like a nice guy, what did you do to get yourself in trouble? If you don't mind me asking." The actress asks Kindly.

"Some racist dude was talking shit about you so I killed him."

Michonne gasps. "Oh my god!"

"No I'm just joking...I just choked him out." The man laughs.

Michonne speaks aloud as she writes a sweet message, "for my best and biggest fan, much love and devotion Michonne."

Rick tilts his head thinking to himself, 'Michonne don't write that. Are you kidding me? That sounds like a weird love confession.' This was the most carefree the actress had been in a long time, so while she's in a haze of adoration, Rick is just on high alert, anticipating something from Tiny.

She hands back Tiny's pen and paper as he nods and thanks her before looking at Rick, "listen your last album got me and my wife back together. I just want to say thank you man. The first thing I did when I got out of prison was look for my lady, and apologize to her because I didn't wanna end up lonely like you." The large man extends his hand to Rick who shakes it with an appreciative head nod. As the two are alone again Rick poses a question to his date.

"So on a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest, how successful was this date?"

"I'd give it a solid nine. What about you?"

Its hard for Rick to really gauge a number, from the interruptions, he's awareness of how fans perceived him, and Tiny, he couldn't really give this date the best score, despite it being with the best person in Michonne. Michonne whistles for his attention as he's thinking way to much, and gives him something to appreciate. She smiles and shimmies her chest at him, and Rick quickly speaks up.

"A ten! I give it a perfect ten."

_A/N: Sorry for the extra long wait, with finals and the holidays its been hard finding time to write. I drummed up this chapter as quickly as I could. Happy holidays!_


	12. Chapter 12 Rick's Muse

Rick and Michonne had been enjoying time spent together, on what Sasha referred to as, 'unsolicited dates she did not authorize.' On this night in particular, the actress had brought the country singer to a blues bar. Rick had been struggling with some writers block, and this was her way of trying to help unwrap his creativity. She figured he'd be attracted to a good melody, in the way she was attracted to a juicy script.

Midnight Soul was a small bar with a big heart. The room illuminated a golden glow from above, with an array of chandeliers, revealing the true color of the assumed dark walls, to be a beautiful shade of forest green. The stage was elevated from the ground covered in textile of navy with silver sparkles, that created the illusion of moving feet tapping on the night's sky. Before the stage, was a space filled with people who wanted their ear closer to the music. Behind them were an assortment of tables filled with friends grouped together over drinks or couples snuggled up. The air was filled with the sounds of various voices all fighting for dominance, and the faint smell of cigar smoke. Michonne, drink in hand, stood beside a seated Rick on his bar stool, both fixated on the live band and high octave singer. They were on the sidelines of the main action, clustered together at the bar.

Michonne got dressed up for the night, in a black fitted off the shoulder top, tucked into her short wine colored aline skirt, and black thigh high boots, that showcased thighs Rick ogled the moment she finally decided to sit. His wardrobe matched his sullen mood, dark denim jeans and a black t-shirt. He sighs and lowers his head in a brief moment of inadequacy, everything in the room screamed for him to put words on paper but he couldn't. His writer's block made him feel as if he had no motivation or wasn't inspired enough. Michonne notices the doubt he has in himself, and sets her now finished drink on the bar top. She steps in front of him and gently cups his face in her hands. He perks up feeling her soft lips kiss his forehead. The blossoming of his cheeks filled the palms of her hands. He toys with the hem of her skirt, but doesn't look up. Michonne views this as him not engaging in their surroundings and speaks with a concerning tone.

"I thought this place might inspire you... we can leave if you want?"

He looks up as the touch of her hands lower to rest on his shoulders. "Inspiration will come to me. The music is good here, but all I really needed was you."

Michonne speaks lively as if he'd hit an epiphany. "That was pretty, we should write that down."

"That wasn't a song lyric, I was speaking to you from my heart."

"Is that the follow up lyric? Because that doesn't flow as well."

"Michonne, baby, I know you're trying to help but I've got a process to the way I do thangs. I swear it'll all come to me, but in the meantime I need you to stop worrying and-"

"Kiss you?"

"That would be a nice start."

Their lips clumsily met in a kiss, since she was in mid giggle and he had a joyful chuckle of his own. His hands snatched her small waist, and brought her in tight. Something he did every time there kiss grew from a few short giggly pecks, to a tongue tussling battlefield. Michonne pulls from the kiss, taking a much needed breath of air. Her mouth traveled an inch away, before he traps her top lip between his and draws her in for another small war. It was the same for the two of them, both lost in the moment, but its only Rick who finds immediate guilt in a moment where his hands reached to grope her breasts.

He felt the tense rise in her body. "I'm sorry..." he promptly stops himself and recoils his touch thinking he'd done something to offend her. "We're in public and I just-"

"We're in a dimly lit bar, I doubt anyone saw."

"There's always someone with a camera watching."

"I know but, I liked what you did. Its a far cry from the man that hardly made eye contact with me, for more than two seconds at a time."

He looks down with a smirk and a denying sway of his head, avoiding any admission to her observation.

"And you're still so shy around me." She sets her hands on her hips, shaking her head as she faked disapproval.

He looks at her. "That's not my fault you know?"

"Oh really, then whose fault is it? Tell me country boy, whose controlling your body? Cursing you with all these involuntary movements." She teased.

"Alright maybe its all on me but, you're the cause. You're one painfully sexy woman."

"Yea, if only you were on my level."**  
**

Michonne smiles as he laughs rather than questioning the state of her joke. "You've come a long way Grimes."

"I have..." he gets up and peers down into that playful shimmer in her eyes, "but you're not all the way wrong. There's not a person on this earth on your level."

She smiles and tilts her head to the side, "how are you having trouble writing love songs again?"

* * *

After a few drinks and a gracious tip to the bartender, the couple where outside, strolling the long path to their car. Their driver could be seen leaning against an automobile, cigarette wedged between two fingers, freeing smoke that blew into the night's calm air. Michonne is teetering slightly in her heels, so Rick holds her hand allowing himself to be a physical support for her. She embarrassingly laughs off her inability to walk solidly, and poses a question.

"So what's your schedule like for the rest of the week?"

"Well the song I wrote about you" he pauses chuckling at the sight of Michonne's smile widening to epic proportions "...it was supposed to be apart of my up coming album but, apparently I'm taking to long on that, so its gonna be tacked onto some movie soundtrack. I'm shooting a video for the song this week."

"A movie soundtrack? That's exciting." Michonne speaks with enthusiasm he wished he could share, but his mind is still worrying about his ability to write. She sighs and comforts him with a kiss on the cheek, and a small whisper telling him he was going to get through this.

"I'm sorry. I'm in this mood and its ruined this night you had planned."

Michonne shakes her head. "You're allowed to be in a bad mood, you're a song writer who's having trouble writing, that's nothing small, I understand the worry. "

He nods, "mind if I stay over tonight? If I'm gonna be wrapped up in this video, I want the extra time with you."

"Not at all, the imprint you left in my bed this morning misses you." She smiles.

"Its still there?" He laughs.

"Well you can remake it."

* * *

Michonne flicks on her bedroom light, her bare feet sauntering along the soft carpet. As she puts her boots in her closet, Rick sat on the edge of her bed looking down at his sock covered feet, a distant energy surrounding him. She looks towards his defeated disposition on the bed, and speaks from across the room.

"What usually inspires you to write? loss, hurt, love?"

"Guess you could say all of the above."

"What about sex?"

The way she looked at him in that moment, was like a screen cap taken straight from his fantasies. He felt himself trying to respond, having no clue if his words were coherent.

"Its ah...I ...I mean..." he struggles to string a sentence together as she's pulling at the martial of her blouse, untucking it from her skirt. He watches the fabric as its flung beside him on the bed, his eyes focused on her discarded garment feeling too timid to turn his head towards her.

"What about now?" She speaks, and her voice is smooth like silk.

His eyes streamed up her narrow toned torso before setting on her swollen beasts resting in cups of black satin. His face was a heated blush of red. She speaks again with a gentle bait. "I'm still over dressed aren't I?"

"Yes" he whispers fixated on her.

"What should I take off next?"

"Your panties." He says in bashful lust.

"I want you to do it."

He nods as she's approaching him. Her body moves like danger in human form. She stops short, wanting him to journey the rest of the way. "And I need you to take them off in a way I like." He rushes to stand hoping to deflect from the nervous eagerness he'd had while sitting.

Her eyes lower, following the unflinching gaze of his heavenly blue stare while he crouches down. She likes how he's so sexy yet timid. His caress moves up her outer thighs, his lips zigzag from knee to knee, thigh to thigh, moving higher and higher. Hands found a home under her short skirt while fingers tangle themselves in her panties, then worked the material down the lengthy stream of her legs towards her ankles. She stepped out of them and smirked watching him tossing the small fabric over his shoulder. He comes to a confident stance, his stare pierced through her, almost breaking her control of the situation.

He wanted her. He wanted her with a growing intensity he'd never felt before. He could feel the rush of blood in his veins, the slight heave of his chest, the dryness of his throat. Like a game of chess he waits for her to make the next move, or in this case the next proposal.

"Do you want me?"

"Yes."

"What are you going to do once you get me?"

"This." He gives into the urge to finally let go and kiss her. His hands grab her face, a hard press of his lips came first, second was a kiss filled with passion matching her own. Eyes closed but hands roaming each other's form are used for vision. He took faithful steps backwards until he clumsily drops on the bed. She quickly straddles him, the kiss never breaking just growing stronger. She grinds on his lap as he felt a warm rush and swelling beneath his jeans. He rotates on top of her, laying her along the soft feel of her bed covers.

He releases a short howl, toppling over her lust filled gasp, as their lips were forced to part. They waste no time stripping each other, clothing flung around the room in every direction before his head is lowering between her spread thighs. She lets out a light moan as his mouth met with the taste of her moistened slit, his tongue was like a brush that painted between her folds like a skilled artist. She reached between her thighs raking her fingers between strands of his hair, "ah yees...just like that." She moaned roughly gripping his hair causing him to groan into her increasing arousal. No melody would ever sound sweeter, than the song she sung entirely of moans. "Mmmm...I'm so close" she said through labored breaths, and toe curling pleasure. The disclosure only made him feast hunger between her thighs. She gripped the bed sheets, her back forming a small arch as she reached her climax.

He raised his head and crawled over her body, writhing beneath his. She smiles up at him before they kiss and she tastes herself on his lips. "Did you like that?" He speaks seductively against her mouth. She smirks and bites his bottom lip, whispering, "yes...I want more."

There bodies become one as he penetrates her and she feels the weight of his chest on her own. He moves back and forth inside of her, his thrusts are just as shy as he is with her in his moment. Goes deep but slow allowing her to feel every hard inch of him. He kisses her with ferocious desire, she kisses him with more aggression as if to top his primal need. Her legs wrap around his waist as she holds him closer. His deep throaty moans mixed with her rapid breaths of desire filled the room. He looked deep into her eyes, a non verbal conversation to gauge her comfort level as he moves harder against her, her eyes tell him she can't get enough.

She grabs the back of his neck, her body jerking roughly under his. Swiftly she rolls on top, adjusting her form to a straddling position. He leans up to meet her lips again and ravishingly groped her full bottom. She moves up and down on the length of his cock, bouncing wildly, the friction sparking pleasure in him that only made him more aggressive towards her. His hands press at her thighs to the point of bruising as she left rays of red strikes across the skin of his back. He hisses and rolls her onto her back, seize her wrists and pinning them against the bed, while his lips traveled to her neck sucking and pulling the sensitive flesh between his teeth. Michonne closes her eyes, her bottom lip quivering with delight.**  
**

In the morning Michonne wakes up in a blissful haze. She aches feeling sore yet satisfied as her eyes are fluttering open, struggling to get used to the burst of light from her bedroom windows. As her blurred vision becomes clear she looks over to see Rick's bed imprint and smirks. Reaching further over to a collection of sheets of paper, she sits up and looks through them. Pages of pages of songs, all written in rushed hand writing with words as beautiful as he was to her. Rick enters the room in a towel after his shower, blushing from Michonne finding his burst of inspiration.


	13. Chapter 13 bitter pill

It's quiet seated at the table. The brightness of the morning was brightest through Michonne's kitchen windows. Rick squints looking up from his plate, welcoming the burn to his eyes to marvel at her, pacing around in short shorts and her _Goldfinger_ T-shirt, that she'd knotted in the back for a closer fit.

His cheeks are full. Filled with the breakfast Michonne had made him. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes. She even remembered that he preferred orange juice instead of coffee in the mornings. She comes towards the table, opening and folding a newspaper with the manipulation of her hands, neurotic about finding a particular section when she sits beside him.

"Rick you need to slow down before you bite your tongue off, then I'll have no use for you." She smiled to his laughter.

Thanks for making me breakfast...you're not gonna eat anything?"

"I will, later on, don't have much of an appetite." She then teases him, "maybe it's the way your eating?"

"If I wasn't so self-conscious this morning, I cudda laughed that off."

"You are going to walk on that set and naturally be the sexiest thing struttin'. I have all the confidence in the world in you. I know you're nervous since this is your first _Hollywood_ video shoot but, everyone is going to love you. Look how easily you got me to like you, and I hate everybody." She smiled.

He nods his head, taking her words in, they helped him.

She uncaps a pen. Her eyes staring down at the crossword puzzle she attentively starts to tackle. Michonne hardly notices Rick's playful squeeze of her thigh. His lips are moving and words are spoken but she doesn't hear them, now she can't feel his kisses on her neck.

"...Michonne...Michonne?" She feels as if she's in a vacuum. The fact that her cell phone was ringing goes unnoticed by her until Rick shakes her arm. He speaks a string of words her ears are numb to, then hands her the phone, before leaving the table. She looks as if she doesn't know what to do with it, but then quickly snaps out of her distortion. Checking the number, she sees the name, "deep sea fisher," it had taken her too long to come out of her haze, but she manages to answer the call before it went to voicemail.

"Hey Andrea." Michonne uncomfortably clears her throat.

"So how do you feel? Today's the big day right? Your last one filming?"

"I'm alright."

"Don't numb yourself to pain, this isn't the dentist. If you cry your eyes out, you'll end up getting the best sleep of your life. I did that last night and I've never woken up this refreshed before."

"What? Why where you crying?"

"I got frustrated with my spring line, all my ideas are horrible. Black and white, which is very anti-spring, but the real kicker was when I tried to tackle, florals."

In her best Meryl Streep voice, Michonne replies, "florals? For spring? Groundbreaking."

"I set you up for that Devil Wears Prada line, didn't I?" Andrea laughs.

"You did, and that's why we're friends. Honestly, Andrea you are a brilliant designer. If it makes you feel any better people are still talking about that yellow dress I wore to the Grammys with Rick."

"Ohhhhh speaking of jeans so tight I worry about his sperm count, what did you two do last night? Does he watch six psychotics?!"

"He watched all four seasons on the couch with me one night. He doesn't care for it, says it's too violent. I spent the entire time doing crosswords puzzles while he was squirming and shrieking. He's adorable."

"Oh...that's not good." Andrea's ominous tone sparks curiosity in Michonne.

"why?"

"You do crossword puzzles when you're riddled with anxiety...are you doing one now?!"

Michonne drops her pen, "No."

* * *

The first thing Michonne did after arriving on the studio property, was take a detour to one of the sets. Looking around the three wall bedroom, she plops down on the bed, her hands smoothing over the sheets. This moment was for her. Reminiscing about all the times she'd spent in this one fake room, remembering her TV husband's flubbed lines, the over the top stories, and how working here turned a struggling actress into a star. "I am going to miss this place." She jumps hearing a door slamming shut. Caesar Martinez comes towards her as she stands up.

"Sit back down. I didn't mean to disturb you."

Michonne uneasily does so, then feels him sitting beside her. Caesar exposes anxiety Andrea had worried about. He was the producer of this show, with a powerful aura, and a tone of speaking that made her skin crawl. In the early months of her being hired, their relationship was fine, but she was tough, opinionated, and his likeliness to her turned toxic.

"I really hope wherever you go next, no one finds out how disloyal you are." He leans to her ear, "how you cost them money."

"I shouldn't be the one made to feel guilty. You should be."

"I'm sure you think that. If I were as much of an asshole as you imagine, I could make it hard for you. Tell people that you're difficult to work with," he wants his threats to linger in his ear, there's an odd scene of seduction in his voice. "You're lucky though, lucky that I'm the good guy here and you're the problem." He gets up from beside her, watching her stare across the room. "Don't spend too long in here, since you're already on your way out."

* * *

Clear across town, Rick was dealing with his own nuisance, in the form of a young blonde woman, who openly had little to no concern for the singer.

"Is there any way I can speak with the director? I'm not too comfortable with his vision here."

"listen Rich, we know what we're doing. We don't need your input."

"My name is Rick, not Rich."

She waves him off with the dismissive flick of her wrist then reads a text from her phone.

Rick tilts his head with a Heavy-lidded glance towards the woman. "This concept your director has is a generic stereotype of the south, a rodeo doesn't need to be the centerpiece to this video. And a fun time clashes with the sadness of the song."

He watches the woman texting on her phone.

"Are you listening to me? This is my video, so consider showing me some respect."

"Spare me any lectures. Your video director isn't some newbie, he's been at this for years. You don't need to like the concept to do your job."

"I asked nicely before, I ain't gon' ask so nicely again. Get me whoever's in charge."

"He's busy! Stop wasting time and get ready."

The woman leaves his trailer, with a furious eye roll, evading the singer's calls for her to come back. He stares through the open door, exposing the clenching of his jaw. Standing there his eyes narrow on the woman's form as she approaches a tall slender man, who's stance was authoritative and demeanor impatient. They speak loud, and carelessly enough for Rick to hear, even with the feet of distance between them.

The woman's voice pierces through the air. "I am so tired of dealing with these low budget celebrities, Yeehaw Magraw in there was getting on my last nerve. I couldn't get out of there fast enough."

The tall man rubs his forehead, before pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't even know who this guy is and he's giving you problems?"

Like nails on a chalkboard the blonde woman speaks again, she already wants to laugh before her words come out. "I'm Like you're a country singer, no one gives a shit about your genre, stop acting bigger than your patchy denim britches."

Their obnoxious laughter felt so close as if they were right beside him. His belittlement becomes physical, numbing pain gnawing at his stomach, overriding his increasing heart rate. He wanted to erupt, but his anger trickles down to embarrassment. Yanking up his jacket he bombards past the blonde woman, and the confused stare of her superior, as he walks off set.

* * *

Michonne stands alone with a rise below her feet. The elevator doors open, before she walks the familiar path to Rick's hotel room. She wants Rick to wash the troubles of her day away, with his usual tenderness. Knocking on his door, ready to wrap her arms around him, she's surprised when he swings the door open without so much as a look in her direction. She watches the back of his head walking further into the room, then the way the door sways back towards her, a repel from how hard he'd swung it open. She enters the room quietly closing the door behind her, her eyes flooded with worry for him.

Her voice had its usual softness. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He replies emotionless as he walked around the room, in search for nothing.

"I can help you look for whatever you're searching for."

He shakes his head without an attempt to speak to her.

Michonne realizes they're pressed for time and approaches him, with a sadness on her face, he couldn't see since he hadn't looked her way yet. "I really don't mind. If I help you we can get there on time."

"I don't need your help." He repeats with some aggravation. She swallows hard and shakes her head turning away from him. He stares at the back of her head, then she hears his feet walking towards the bedroom before shutting the door. For the second time this day, she finds herself sitting, alone, and overwhelmed, but she isn't just worried for herself, she's worried for him too.

In the seclusion of his bedroom, time is still winding down. He doesn't recognize how fast he's dressing. He slips on a dark blue blazer to match his suit pants, tucks in his white button down and contemplates the tie in his hand. The black fabric is thrown onto the bed with anger he doesn't notice. His cell rings, he'd been ignoring Abraham's calls all afternoon. Rick composes himself, then answers hearing the frustration in Abraham's voice.

"Wanna explain to me what happened today?"

"Not really since I'm heading to some event I don't want to go to."

"At least you'll be well rested instead of tired since you were supposed to be filming your video today, but that didn't happen, did it?"

"No, it didn't." Rick admits with an attitude.

"You can't go around storming off sets and wasting people's money. Shit like this will get around, and no one will want to work with you."

Rick ends the call abruptly.

* * *

At the event, some social gathering their publicist had forced them to attend, in order to further broadcast their relationship, Michonne watches the happy room and realizes she and Rick stick out like a sore thumb. They're the only two people sullen and disengaged.

"Let's get some champagne." She tells Rick faking some cheerfulness.

"I don't really wanna be here."

"But we just got here..." Michonne looks past Rick's shrug to see Caesar chugging a glass of champagne in the background. His snide stare meet with her's as she reaches for Rick's hand but he's pulling from her reach.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

"No can you just stay...Rick." She whispered to his fleeting form.

She sees Caesar staggering towards her. Instantly she takes off seeing there's an exit near. She quickly walks into the hallway, its long but empty. Clearing her throat, so that there isn't a tremble for when she has to speak, she pulls out her phone dialing her driver's number. "I need you to bring the car around. We're ready to leave...thank you."

"Trouble in paradise already? Figured karma would find a way to get to you back."

Michonne turned around at the sound of Caesar's slurred voice. She slipped her phone back into her clutch, before tucking it under her arm. He looks Michonne up and down in her short two-toned dress, of magenta and plum purple.

"I want you to stay away from me. You think you can show up anywhere to harass me or put me down. I don't work for you anymore, which means I don't have to take your shit."

"I harass you and put you down because you fucking deserve it. You act like there's a surplus of roles out there for you. You're no pretty little white girl Mija. Who the fuck is going to want you, huh?!" She stares at him with detest while he rambles on, angrier now. "You're never going to do better than the show I got you on! I fucking made you!"

Michonne stepped back as he invaded her personal space, his breath drenched in alcohol. "My entire lively hood isn't in service to you." He could hear a sudden crack in her voice as she went on, a smile emerging on her face thinking he'd hurt her. "I've accomplished so much on my own without your help. You can claim I'm worthless all you want but, everything about my career proves you wrong."

"What career huh?" He grabs her arm, "if I have any say in it, you will never work again!"

She pulls her arm away from his painful grip. "This is the last time you will ever come hear me. Next time you see me, you walk in the other direction. We are done!"

The doors open behind them. People came spilling into the hall distracting Caesar who turns around to watch the chatter and bustling about. Michonne takes the opportunity to get away from the encounter. He loses her in the crowd swarming guests. Swerving around people, getting trapped between bodies, Michonne can see Rick in the distance, he's obviously searching for her. When he sees her, she hides how shaken she is, as they meet in the middle of a crowd.

"Where have you been?" Rick says in exasperation towards a tense Michonne.

"What is wrong with you?" She suddenly blurts out before catching herself and taking a deep breath- pushing aside her early trauma by focusing on Rick.

"What?" He says with a tilted stance, trying to figure out what was off about his girl.

"What is wrong with you Rick? I didn't want to say anything until you wanted to talk but, what happened today?"

Rick looks around the room while she confronted him, and they'd gained the attention of a few noisier guests. Michonne wasn't loud only determined in wanting an answer from him. He gives her the best response he can in the moment. "I don't want to get into it right now."

"Of course you don't" she rolled her eyes as he saw her rubbing her arm.

"What's wrong with your arm?" He wonders before trying to reach out to touch her, but he sees her recoil and decides to leave her be... for now anyway.

"Nothing...you've obviously had a rough day, and I want to be someone you can rely on, but I can't if you give me the cold shoulder." She pleads with him while fighting the urge to scan the room for her Caesar.

Rick nods his head, wanting to touch again her but doesn't, then escorts her through the crowded hallway.

* * *

Andrea jumps at the sound of the front door slamming shut. She'd been in Michonne's house for the past few hours and was now dreading her friend's reaction. Clambering to collect her things, her eyes are wide with anticipation of Michonne finding her. Michonne turns into the living room which had a light on that she remembered turning off. She's startled by Andrea.

"Don't get mad. I know you told me not to break into your house, but you gave me a spare key, so technically I'm never really breaking in."

Michonne practically runs to Andrea and hugs her, knocking the blonde slightly off balance from the impact. Andrea is shocked, and doesn't hug her for a few seconds, but then she does and gently rubs her friend's back. "Meesh, are you okay?"

"I just needed a hug."

Andrea holds her tighter hearing Michonne sniffle.


	14. Chapter 14 playing offence

The Los Angeles weather kissed Michonne's skin with its usual heat, and the sun played shy with its presence. Her body radiated fatigue, that her eyes tried to hide behind dark sunglasses. Walking towards her car, she carried her hands to the front of her stomach, pulling at her fingers, digit by digit, a coping mechanism for the tension inside her. She gripped the door handle squeezing it for dear life as she sighed heavily, willing herself to pull it open.

The night prior she'd bared her soul to Andrea about all that ailed her. Worries and insecurities poured out of the normally tight-lipped actress. She hadn't spoken to Andrea that morning, absentmindedly leaving her friend with more worry, but the actress couldn't deal with any talk at the moment.

Michonne is well aware that this isn't her. The spacing out, the dodgy behavior, the codependent obsessions. It isn't her and yet, it is. She's back to a place she thought she'd overcome. This was no time for anxiety, she wills herself to open the car door, and does. A small victory within the moment.

Seated upright on the couch, Andrea hovers a hand over her mouth, capturing a yawn while waking from her slumber. It was six in the morning, and the last thing she remembered was consoling her dear friend. Andrea had fallen asleep with the weight of Michonne's head on her lap. A weight Andrea no longer felt. She got up from the couch, wanting a sense of Michonne's presence. She finds nothing but a note of her whereabouts, ending in a lie that she was okay.

Hours into the morning, Andrea worked on a few sketches, but couldn't focus. There's an old photo of her and Michonne, she'd taken down from the mantle. Andrea smirked at the picture from a Halloween party. They'd gone as two different versions of the flash. Andrea was the comic book superhero, and Michonne was an actual flasher, wearing an oversized beige trench coat, black socks, and black men's shoes.

She puts the picture back and stares at it. There's a knocking at the door, "Meesh..." she says under her breath while she's walking towards knuckles striking at the solid surface. It skips her mind that Michonne wouldn't knock on her own door, but she'd rationalize anything if it meant Michonne had come back, and Andrea could see for herself if Michonne was indeed okay.

"Ahhhhhhh! I can't believe this! Do you know who you are?!"

The singer stands there looking confused. "Rick Grimes?"

"OH MY GOD! AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Rick flinches as if Andrea's screams were a fist that could literally punch him. He watches the excited shake of her eyes before she bounces up and down like a giddy child. She can't contain herself until she remembers that she's an adult. "I'm sorry for screaming but I'm a big fan."

"Well, thank you. Honestly, after the time I've been having, it's good to see your enthusiasm. I'm sorry I didn't get your name."

"Its Andrea Harrison, please come in." She makes the mistake of curtseying.

Rick smiles awkwardly at her while walking into Michonne's home. "It's nice to meet you, Andrea. I remember Michonne had me sign some posters for you and your sister. And ah...sorry for the personal message, Michonne insisted I make it intimate."

"Yea I know she might have influenced some of that. It was sweet, I felt like I was getting love from you and her at the same time. Technically we've had a threesome." Andrea giggles.

Rick smiled blushing a little. "Is Michonne here?"

"No she had a call back audition this morning, and I don't know where she is now." Andrea takes note of Rick seeming relieved to have missed Michonne. He wouldn't have known what to say. "You and Michonne are okay right?"

Rick seemed confused by the question, but it dawns on him rather quickly, that Michonne might have told Andrea about their conflict the night prior. Rick wouldn't normally be so open to someone he'd just met but, Shane had been m.i.a for weeks and he felt he'd wounded Michonne. He needs to talk. "We got into a fight. Or at least I think it was a fight, all I know is I felt sorry and she was frustrated."

"That's good."

"What?"

"Fighting is good. If you're in a relationship with someone and you never fight, it shows a disinterest in your partner. If you no longer fight it means you don't talk, and a lack of communication means you've stopped caring, and if you don't care then why be together? Fighting is good."

"Wow..."

"I ramble sometimes."

"No...I think you're right. Ya know, Michonne told me you were smart, but I had no idea how quickly you could put things into perspective."

"She said I was smart?" Andrea melts into a blissful smile and clasps her hands over her heart feeling proud.

Rick raised a brow. "No one's ever called you smart before?"

"Not to my face." She laughs.

* * *

Sasha was swamped at the office with many clients that needed tending to. Every action made throughout the day was a rush, calculated, but handled swiftly nonetheless. It was the worst time for Michonne to stop by in person, but Sasha invented the time to see her. Michonne gave a very nonchalant explanation of her situation with Caesar, with tense body language that entirely went over Sasha's head.

"Good thing you're trying to get into movies. Martinez is behind the top three shows on television right now. Not a man you want to have on your bad side."

"Is there anything we can do, to blanket any negative statements he might make about me. I'm going through the process of auditioning still. People need to know they're investing in an actress that's scandal free."

Within seconds of hearing this, Sasha is already on the ball. "I have a solution. You still need to make some farewell statement about leaving the show. You'll talk about your experience working there, say the normal things like your thankful for the opportunity to have worked with such an amazing cast and crew,' and 'you regard them as family' yada yada. With that, you'll single out Martinez and praise him for helping you realize your_ fullest potential_. He'll look suspect if he reacts to your praise with anything other than appreciation."

"How quickly can you write something up?"

"I'll make it a priority today. Don't worry, an ego boost would simmer a man like him down."

* * *

While still in Michonne's home, awaiting the return of her friend, Andrea is rummaging through the fridge. She stops when she hears the quiet closing of the front door. Rushing through the house she sees a sad Michonne. "Meesh!" Michonne jumps then felt Andrea hugging her. "I was so worried about you." The blonde admits with a mouth full of food.

Michonne hugs her friend back, watching the blonde chewing the bits left in her mouth. "I'm fine Andrea."

"How was I superposed to know that? You snuck out on me like a bad one night stand."

"I'm sorry about that, I was running late and didn't want to wake you."

"We need to talk about last night."

"I don't think we do." Michonne walks around Andrea, leaving her friend with an annoyed eye roll, following behind.

"You were assaulted by a man that's been bullying you for years, and that's not something we need to talk about?" Andrea speaks over Michonne's frustrated sigh. " It happened in a public place. Maybe there's some security footage, we could use to out Caesar as the abuser he is."

Michonne stops and turns around to face Andrea. "People are easier to believe that he made a mistake because he was drunk, or blame me. Say I must have done something to provoke him. I doubt anything would come from outing him. Andrea, I don't want to waste energy stressing over him, just let me move on from this."

"You're acting like I'm blowing this out of proportion, but really I'm the only one that sees how dangerous this can get. That man is unpredictable and has some sort of grudge against you, that makes him dangerous."

"I'm aware of the situation. I have my eyes open. I need you to trust that I can handle this."

"You're my best friend. I love you...I'm going to be really fucking pissed if anything happens to you."

"I know." Michonne waves for Andrea to come to her and she embraces her friend warmly. Two two women linger in the hug. "I love you too, and I'm not going anywhere, so we'll find something else for you to be pissed about. Like girls who wear jean shorts and uggs."

"Oh my god don't even get me started on that!"

* * *

Rick walks up to Michonne's front door for the second time that day. He hopes twice is all it'll take until he sees her. When Michonne opens the door, she doesn't smile despite his happiness to see her. Allowing him inside, they're no words spoken between the two of them, only quietness. Sitting on the couch with her, he knows he has to be the one to shatter the silence.

"I hated how we left things. Last night was all my fault. I did give you the cold shoulder, and I didn't mean to. I was in a bad mood and couldn't get myself out of it."

"Are you ready to tell me what happened?"

"I walked onto that video shoot...everything was all wrong. The people treated me like I was beneath them because of where I'm from. It really got to me because I'm proud of who I am, and for a second there, I wasn't. I walked off set...I honestly didn't give a shit by the end of it."

Michonne affectionately rubs his back, the last thing she thought he'd face were prejudice people coming down on him. "Its good that feeling only lasted a second, because you have so many good qualities, and you're a bigger person than anyone who tries to put you down."

As Michonne pulls her hand back, he leans forward, his forearms on his thighs for support, chewing his bottom lip with downcast eyes. "I think about you, and how you handle fame so well, don't know how you do it. Maybe this whole thing won't work out for me. I'm starting to think I'm only meant for success in a small town."

"I've had to deal with racism my entire life, I've never had the choice to avoid it. When people would say, I'm no good because of my skin color, or find it confusing that I'm articulate, or make fun of my features for being different than their racist ideals, it hurts, but its nothing I haven't dealt with before. You grew up in a town where you were like everyone else, there was nothing different about you that people could hate." He sadly looks at her while she continued to speak. "I understand how you were taken aback by what these people said about you, but what I need you to take away from this experience, is that you need to have thicker skin."

"I'm such a fucking idiot."

"Rick!"

"No I am, whatever shit I get you'll always have it worse. I ain't ignorant to the nasty things people say about black people, yet here I am whining to someone who has it a lot worse than me."

"I need you to take what I said and apply it. I'm stronger than the people who try to degrade me, and I want you to be just as strong. This business isn't easy. Every action you make becomes public consumption and ammunition for people who don't want you to make it. You can't handle yourself like that again."

"I hear you."

For the life of him, he couldn't understand how anyone could call her anything short of beautiful. She was his anchor, someone to keep him on the straight and narrow through all this. He reaches into her lap and holds the hand his fingers found first. Her smile is luminous and he missed seeing it.

"I missed you last night." He admits.

"I missed you too." She confesses.


	15. Chapter 15 the let down

Rick runs his fingers through curls still damp from the quickie shower he'd taken. He puts on his last item of clothing, a tight brown shirt, before entering the bedroom to say goodbye to Michonne.

"Michonne..." He says turning into the bedroom seeing a few completely finished crossword puzzles on the bed, a task Michonne obsessed with during the mornings. He looks around the room for her, then hears the rustling of the hangers within her closet and spots Michonne sifting through a row of clothing. He's left speechless by the sight of her in nothing but her black satin nightgown with fabric that clung to her figure like a second skin. He'd seen her in all her glory before but still blushes like a boy as his eyes follow the waves of her curves.

She looks curiously over her shoulder, then checks the time, seeing it was eight in the morning. She assumed they'd have more time together since he would normally leave for the recording studio much later in the day. "You should eat before you go," she turns around walking towards him "hopefully I have enough time to make you something." He stops her, shaking his head. "I'm already running late. I just wanted to say goodbye."

"Drive safe and stay focused today. It's just you in that studio doing what you do best, remember that."

Rick listens and nods assuring her, but can't help himself from wanting to drown in her soft brown eyes. "you look beautiful."

She laughed rolling her eyes, "sure I do."

Rick tilts his head staring at her with a flirty grin, "...I wasn't joking."

"I just woke up. I must look tired still. I haven't put on any makeup on yet-"

He kisses her in the middle of her sentence then leans back staring at her as if he's found the rarest gem. "Like I said...beautiful." He was so sweet, and yet she can't enjoy the moment fully because there's so much she's worried about. Caesar, news on her movie role, the fact that she's playing offence when she feels she should be actively doing more.

These thoughts make Michonne uneasy. There's a shift in body language Rick doesn't catch onto as he's moving his arms around her, blanketing her in his warmest embrace. She holds him firmly, hands pressed to his back. "You should go" she urges him, the suggestion causing him to release her, as she does him. He plants a goodbye kiss on her before leaving.

* * *

Casually dolled up for the day, Michonne stands in front of her mirror adjusting her clothes. Her phone rings and she smiles walking towards it, expecting the caller to be Andrea. The two were going to spend the afternoon together for some girl time.

"Unknown number?" She answers the call with suspicion. "Hello?"

"That little statement you made in the press almost sounded sincere..."

"Caesar?"

"Forgot me already? Thought I'd left a bigger impression on you." He smirks.

Michonne scowls, clenching her fingers around her phone, as he speaks ignoring her quietness.

"Listen, since you've extended this olive branch, I'll meet you the rest of the way. We can finally call a truce."

Her tone in retaliation is aggressive. The arrogance that sewed his sentences together boiled her blood. "A truce? Really? You don't think there's too much water under the bridge?"

"You still have it in your head that I have it out for you, but that was never my intention."

Michonne speaks reminding him of some history. "The first time I wanted to leave the show you said I could go, and in the same breathe threatened to fire two of my costars if I left. When I went to the higher ups to complain about you, you had them sideline my character for an entire season as punishment. And we both know the other night wasn't the first time you've grabbed me."

"All of that is in the past..." he speaks in a slow growl. "If we can never get along you only have yourself to blame. A man is entitled to a few mistakes in his time." He scoffs. "I'm beginning to think that interview you did was all a bunch of lies."

"You're right...we'll let bygones by bygones then." Her words are forced as is her forgiving tone.

"Michonne you may not believe this, but all I've ever wanted was for you to get exactly what you deserve."

His precious phrases with double meanings, he loves them but hopefully, this would be the last time she'd hear from him. "I honestly wish the same for you."

She ended the call, releasing the phone with disgust like it was a physical piece of him in her hand.

A feminine voice appears behind the actress "Michonne..."

She jumps. Her shoulders shooting up to her ears before her startled brown eyes met Andrea's curious blue ones. Immediately Andrea notices unfamiliar body language from Michonne, who looked ready to jump out of her skin.

"Didn't you hear me calling you downstairs?"

Michonne continues to stand there and pulls at her fingers. The clearing of Andrea's throat focuses Michonne's attention. It takes a second for the actress to remember her surroundings.

"Michonne you look like a nervous wreck." Andrea says with worry.

Michonne felt so foreign in her own body. "I don't mean to be, I don't even notice when I'm getting worked up." A lie. She notices every time and she feels herself wanting to hide it. Like if she didn't think about her increasingly nervous habits, they didn't exist. She hates getting this way, it makes her feel fragile.

"I know you're going through a lot right now but you have me and you have Rick-"

"Have Rick what?"

"To support you through this rough time?"

"He doesn't know anything about this." Michonne admitted to her friend.

Andrea wasn't surprised Michonne was keeping Rick in the dark, but what did surprise her was him presumably not picking up on her nervous ticks. If she could detect something was wrong with Michonne in a matter of seconds, why hadn't he?

Andrea comes to a conclusion. "Something must of happened to set you off like this."

Michonne sighed. "Cesar called me."

Andrea's eyes grow large. "The nerve of him. What was said?"

"We buried the hatchet I guess, but I don't believe he was genuine, and I don't trust him."

"Maybe Rick needs to shove the heart of the south up his ass."

Michonne shakes her head. "I know he'd want to intervene. I'd feel disgusted with myself if I had anyone handle my problems for me. I've been a little rattled lately but that's over now."

Andrea doesn't want to ruin their afternoon together, so she says nothing further while following Michonne out the room.

* * *

The following day Michonne was on a quest for answers. Stuck in traffic, the actress dials a number on her phone. The only number not highlighted with a sentimental code name. It was straight and to the point, like the person. Her agent, Dawn Learner.

"Michonne for Dawn Learner please...what do you mean she's not in today?"

She's downright insulted by the full blown lie. Dawn didn't take days off, she's a woman of persistence and thrived on having complete control. Which meant_ days off_ were out of question, and it had been days of trying to reach Dawn with no result.

"Every time I call, you recite the same monologue to me Gorman." She gets nothing but him talking in circles, avoiding giving her a clear answer.

A few miles from Michonne's intended destination, Dawn is having a one-sided conversation. "If you no longer have my client in mind for the role, stop avoiding my calls and be blunt about it. You're wasting time that I don't have, get back to me." Slamming her phone down, Dawn crosses out yet another name on a list of nonresponsive casting agents. Tossing down her pen she balls her fists up at her waist. Looking at the small disorder of her desk, she lines her pen next to the sheet of paper and neatly re-adjusts her phone, that had shifted from the slam.

Outside her office, her receptionist lifts his head at the sound of the elevator doors opening. Michonne is hastily walking towards Gorman's direction. He stands up, "Good afternoon...ah...Michonne...Ms. Learner isn't ready to see anyone right now...if you could just wait a min-"

Gorman's cluster of words come to a stop as Michonne's glare meets him. She was suddenly fury with a guise of calm. His peeved words formed a haze behind her. Dawn looks up seeing Michonne stepping into her office and swinging the door shut behind her.

"You've been avoiding my calls Dawn, and I want to know why."

"I messed up, okay. And I didn't want to tell you until I had other options to offer you, to cushion the blow."

"What did you do?"

"You got the part, at first, but then I started lobbying for a bigger salary since you'd be the only famous name in a clusterfuck of newbies...I wasn't being unreasonable. I wanted you to have a bigger presence in future merchandising. It made sense, you'd be the third biggest character in the action movie. It seemed like they were okay with my demands until I got a call, basically saying they'd cast another actress."

"You did this on purpose! You always wanted to keep me in tv. You've been against me doing this movie from the start!"

"Movies makes you famous, but TV makes you rich. That's why I wanted you to stay in the television market. I would never sabotage something I knew you wanted just to get my way. I've been making phone calls on your behalf all day, I can get you something better."

"You shouldn't have kept this from me for so long. I could have been auditioning for other roles all this time, instead of waiting around at home doing nothing!"

"I'm sorry. I can get you something better, you just have to give me the time. The last thing you'll be is an out of work actress. Listen to my advice, you need to stay in TV. Movies will take you out of the country because locations like Toronto are cheaper to film in, and in TV you'll mostly remain here in L.A. I can work on getting you a lead role since your coming off a really big series, in the meantime Sasha will get you endorsement deals to keep your money coming in. We have a plan to keep you relevant and working, I know you're disappointed but this is just a bump in the road."

Michonne just wants to lash out, and rip into Dawn but feels it's unwarranted. Dawn had only been acting in Michonne's best interest. All this anger just dissolves into sadness that crushes Dawn, when looking at Michonne.

"We'll do it your way, but I need things to start moving soon."

* * *

Rick rushed home the first moment he was allowed to. He was at the studio when Michonne had called him venting about her bad news, he consoled her the best he could over the phone, but knew he had to be there in person for her. He comes into Michonne's home calling for her.

She's seated on her couch, and he's even more upset when she looked at him with sad reddened eyes.

"I got here as soon as I could." She gets up and he pulls her into a hug the second he gets to her. Her body is like a rock, nothing but tense lean muscles. "Are you holding up alright?" He holds her even tighter and rubs her back, the feel of her head nodding brushed against him.

"I'm disappointed. Not discouraged." Sighing, she pulls from his hug but within the same motion held his hands. "Regardless of how I feel right now, rejection is a good chunk of what I do. I can pull myself together." She was angry but the sadness came from the fact that she'd been working constantly for years straight. It had become like muscle memory for her.

Rick caresses her face. "Tonight I don't want you to do anything. Let me take care of you."

She shakes her head. "I don't need you to do anything...ugh I'm acting like an idiot."

"No you're not, how can you say that?"

"I should be handling this better. I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Look at me" he cups her face forcing her undivided attention, "I don't have too many people out here, you've been everything to be all in one, a lover, a confidant and a friend. But I don't expect you to always be my rock. You may hate being this vulnerable but I love it."

She smirked. "Because you're a sick son of a bitch."

"No" he chuckled "because you can count on me Michonne. I can be your rock too."

* * *

Dawn sits behind her desk, as hours dwindled into the evening. She impatiently sat in her chair staring at her phone. Suddenly she gets a buzz from Gorman. "You're husband is on line one."

"It's about time." Dawn switches out Gorman's voice for the husky charm of her husband's. She had several television pilots lined up for Michonne, that had all miraculously fallen through, so she sent her husband out on a mission to gain some information for her, via his gossip circles.

Phillip Blake was a man, so rich and well connected he hardly had an occupation anymore. Last time Dawn checked he was going into politics, but he usually golfed all day and kept his physical appearance something presentable for Dawn.

"Hello, sweetheart. You'll be glad to know, I haven't called you empty handed."

"What did you find out baby?!"

"It wasn't your fault Michonne lost her movie role, as I suspected. Someone was speaking to people involved with the movie, and telling them Michonne was a bad bet."

"Pumpkin, I need a name or the names."

"There's only one name to give, Cesar Martinez."


	16. Chapter 16 envelope

_A/N: I just want to say that I appreciate everyone who reads/enjoys this story. I see your reviews and I'm genuinely happy that this story is received so well. I've never been this busy in my life before, so it's hard to make these updates but thank you for the continued loyalty. _

Dawn's at a loss while on the phone with Michonne. "You don't seem surprised..."

"He's been putting the screws to me ever since I quit the show," Michonne admitted.

"This might have been useful information to tell the women in charge of getting you work."

"I know." The actress sighs. "I hate how far he's taken all this..."

"We need to render him powerless, then his words won't carry any weight."

"Rumors of being hard to work with, don't just go away," Michonne told Dawn somberly.

Dawn cosigns Michonne's apprehension, but openly, she acts as if the situation was smaller in reality. "He's one man. And from the way he carries himself, an insecure one. I bet my dick is bigger than his."

Michonne laughed in the act of Dawn's slowly forming smile against her cell phone. The agent continued to speak with an assuring tone. "He'll be taken care of, don't worry. I've got my top man on the job."

"Oh, you mean your house husband?" Michonne droned back.

"Since you're taking low blows at Phillip, I can only see this as a good sign. You're up for a takedown."

Michonne chuckled then speeds to her door upon the sudden excessive ringing. Abruptly opening it, there's a man holding a bouquet of the most beautiful roses she'd ever seen. Her eyes lower on the plush redness of the petals, and the vibrant green of the long stems captured in a glass vase.

Dawn looks up seeing her husband, gripping an envelope in one hand, while waving away Gorman's presence like a mosquito with the other. The information Dawn was waiting on, had just arrived.

Ending the call, Michonne takes the vase with a smiling "thank you" from the delivery man. He closed her door shut for her, while she carried the vase with some difficulty, to the nearest flat surface. An envelope is wedged between the roses. "Finally, he attached a card," Michonne said while cheerfully opening the envelope.

Rick is startled by a loud crash. He rushes out of Michonne's room and messily runs downstairs. They're shards of glass melting in a soupy mixture of water and roses. Michonne's hand crumbs something similar to a letter. Rick approaches her cautiously and speaks her name.

She's unresponsive to him as he crept around her, crouching down in an attempt to gather the roses from the ground. From how the vase was shattered on the floor, he can instantly tell that it was thrown, and not dropped on accident. He plays dumb, trying to coax her into telling him what happened. "Did it just slip from ya hands or somethang?"

"Don't touch it!" Rick jumps at Michonne's startling reaction.

"Are you okay? Who sent you these?" With no response an assertive Rick demands and answer of her.

"Michonne...baby...you need to start talking to me, right now."

* * *

Phillip stands before his wife, who's perched on her office desk. He's smiling, with a look as if awaiting his accolades. Dawn stares down at the various images in her hands. "Where did you get theses?"

"Remember my old college buddy Shumpert? The one that owns a chain of hotels in New York?"

"Yea, buff quiet guy."

Phillip nods. "I meet up with him, found out he's had a nasty falling out with Martinez."

"And he dug up this dirt? I love how petty you men get." She does the closest thing to a giggle she can muster.

"What you're looking at are photo stills from some security footage. See that woman he's got his hands... and mouth all over?"

"I see her. She looks nothing like his wife Matilda."

"Exactly."

"Phillip, honeysuckle-

"Yes, pudding pop?"

"Thank you. This was an efficient job well done."

Phillip practically melts from the compliment at the exact moment Dawn is making bedroom eyes at him. He immediately scoops up his wife, holding her bridal style in his arms. She squeals with excitement but feels him swaying her over her desk. "Not on the desk! I just organized those files into alphabetical and chronological order!"

"Jesus Dawn." He laughed.

* * *

Michonne had told him all about her history and her present with Caesar. Rick's goal was to keep a level head, but as his mind is processing the information, he doubts he can keep this promise.

The distance between them had never been so great. She stood stoic-like, almost half way across the room. He sat confused on her couch, pinching his forehead and shaking his leg.

His hand dropped from his forehead and he looks to her. "Why didn't you tell me any of this was going on?"

"You've been going through a lot-"

"An excuse to keep thangs from me. That's all that is. And I was here with you Michonne. Last night I gave you the perfect opportunity to tell me this."

"I didn't wanna burden you with my problems."

Her words were an insult to him. _Burden_. From the day he'd met this woman she'd been a ray of light. How could she ever think she'd be a burden?

"So you kept me in the dark, because you didn't think I could handle more than my own problems? Am I so fragile that the better option for you, was to handle this situation all on your own?"

Michonne is bewildered. "No. What are you talking about?"

He shouts, mostly angry with himself. "How did I not know that something was off with you?!"

Michonne crosses her arms. She practically folds into herself. He gets up and approaches her, then extends his reach for her hand. She recoils from his gesture in a way that seems familiar. He can't recall the similar moment, but the feeling of uncertainty is tangible, like a pressing on his temple.

Michonne defensively questions. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

He remembers the similar moment. "Your arm. You said nothing was wrong with it, but you were rubbin' it."

The realization colors Michonne's face with guilt. She takes a second to contemplate telling him more. She feared the argument escalating. His eyes are narrowing on hers. She refuses her natural urge to halt his questioning.

"That event we went to a few weeks ago... when you walked off, he was there in the room. I tried to get away from him, but he followed me into the hall. We argued and... he grabbed me. That's what happened with my arm." She said, finally revealing her assault to Rick.

She wanted to go on about how scared she was, but he was changing before her eyes. The veins in his neck revealed themselves like cords under his skin. A volcanic eruption bound within the flesh of a man. His voice tightened as he belted out in frustration, "you should have told me what he did then!" He face was heated red.

His physical anger, offset her emotional one. "Is this what our fight consists of? You lashing out over how I didn't tell you something? And what would you have done? Other than continue to ignore me!"

"I wouldn't have done that..."

Michonne looks away from him shaking her head in disbelief. She thinks to herself. 'This didn't have to be a fight.'

"Why am I the bad guy here?! I have a right to be upset Michonne-I could've protected you!"

"You're more upset at me than the situation! You keep fishing for new details just to blow up!"

"I just wanna know everythang. That's it."

"You want to know what I want? Since that hasn't crossed your mind yet. For your feelings not to trump mines. I want to be angry and frustrated and for you to just listen!"

He whispers her name apologetically, but she shakes her head and walks away from him, "Just leave!"

Walking away from him, she freezes hearing his departure. His footsteps and then the gentle closing of her front door. Tears stream down her cheek as she smooths open the letter in her hand. She rereads the words written in Caesar's handwriting. "From your dear friend Caesar; you should never forget the man who made you a somebody."

* * *

Rick leaves because he's not wanted. Driving in his car, he bitterly grips the steering wheel, glaring at the road ahead. He's all alone now. It's just him in this car, and in the moment he's honest with himself.

"I handled that all wrong. I never notice what's important, and I'll lose everything because of it."

In the blink of an eye is was dusk, and his surroundings were as dark as how he felt on the inside. His mind rambles on, not allowing the peacefulness of the night to seep into his brain and cool his head.

"You know why she didn't tell you...because you can't protect her."


	17. Chapter 17 chance meeting

Shane wakes up in his hotel room. There's fresh drool on his pillow. He has a massive hangover and sleeping scantily clad women are sprinkling his suite. The air is scented with a mixture of perfume, sweat, and vomit. Only two of the women were in bed with him, draped over his naked form. If he could move, he'd be giving himself a pat on the back for a night well done. Slithering out from between the barricade of arms across his back, he smiled looking around the room. "I outdid myself this time."

A few moments later, Rick had returned to his own hotel room and is shocked to get a call from Shane.

"Shane, where the hell have you been?"

"Whoa. Don't yell, I just woke up. And I told you, the band was on tour."

"Didn't you get any of my messages?"

Shane proudly looks around the room, "sorry man, the bonuses of touring, get a little...distracting at times. So what's been going on?" Shane asks then gargles with a bottle of alcohol.

"It's all wrong Shane, everythang. Michonne was hiding the fact that someone was harassing her, and we got into a fight."

Shane listens while strolling into the bathroom, spitting out the alcohol. "Rick whatever ya gotta do to fix yall relationship, do it. Cuz it's gon' be real awkward if y'all breakup, but you still gotta publicly be together." He flexes his pecks in the bathroom mirror. "Leave it up to you to have a girlfriend who looks like Michonne, and chooses to fight with her instead of fucking her."

"Shane..."

"Alright alright. I'll be back in L.A. in a few days. Tell me who we gotta fuck up. I ain't afraid to go back to jail."

"Yea well I'm afraid of paying your bail again so _we_ ain't gon' do a thang."

Shane peaks out from the bathroom seeing some of the women waking up. "Rick, I gotta go. Don't do anything without me being there. You know your ass can't fight." Shane laughs and hangs up, leaving an offended Rick hanging. He walks back towards the women. "Alright everybody get dressed, we going to I-Hop for some pancakes."

* * *

Michonne is with Andrea on their third lap around the park. Michonne is effortlessly jogging at a speedy pace, while Andrea is trailing slightly behind. The blonde can hardly catch her breath, but what she will do, is use this time for gossip.

"I've seen Caesar's wife Matilda and she's gorgeous. Who cheats on a woman who favors a Colombian beauty queen?!"

Michonne rolls her eyes and looks back at Andrea. "Who cheats in general?" The actress slows down and grabs Andrea's hand forcing her friend to keep up. "And just because she's beautiful doesn't mean some insecure pig isn't going to cheat on her."

"God, my legs feel so heavy, can we stop?" Andrea complains.

"If we stop you'll just get an ice cream cone, and defeat the purpose."

Andrea groans while continuing to be dragged by Michonne. "So you have those photos of him doing the deed right? And you told your agent you wanted to handle the situation yourself-"

"Thank you, _exposition Edgar. _And please speak a little louder I don't think Canada can hear."

"You're welcome_ snippy Susan_, but what are you gonna do?"

"Nothing I want to talk about."

* * *

A work obligation gave Rick something to focus on, besides raw emotions from his fight with Michonne. He was in a sour mood. Which didn't exactly go hand in hand with socializing at an industry party, he hadn't slept all night and it showed. His head hung low, half listening to his manger's ramblings.

Eugene Porter gestures to the crowd like a price is right model, and speaks merrily of the occasion. "Look alive Mr. Grimes!" He nudges the singer to gain his full attention. "Every director from film, television, and beyond are gathered right here. In this very room. With my vast expertise, we will be able to find a video director to your liking. Trust that you have put your faith in the right man."

Rick releases a drawn out exasperated sigh then rubs his forehead.

"I shouldn't have to tell you that presentation is key right about now. All the hard work I've done to get us into the facility-"

"I'm gettin' a drink. You want anythang?"

Eugene declines and Rick excuses himself to the bar. The singer uses the time alone for a moment of peace. He brings his glass of scotch to his lips, but the little that flows down his throat just isn't enough. He orders another.

Someone makes his way through the crowd of people, following a similar path as Rick did towards the bar. And unlike the singer, this man is a glutton for the attention he cultivates. A nod of acknowledgment to one person, a smirk to the next, a pat on the back to another. He's all smiles except for now when his text alerts are increasingly frequent. He reads them.

_'You need to get home right now'_

_'I need to see you'_

_'where are you?'_

_'wherever you are, come home'_

The man rolls his eyes and puts his phone on vibrate as it's now ringing. He takes the only seat available that's beside Rick and puts in a request for a drink. Rick finds himself watching a fourth refill of his glass.

The man clears his throat. "So if I order a scotch and they're all out, I have you to blame."

Rick glanced at the man then shrugged his shoulders. "You'll be fine. I'm cutting myself off after this."

The man has his drink handed to him, and he's quick to take a gulp. To him, Rick was the only dim spot in the entire room. He takes it upon himself to find out why. "What's got you drinking so much? Business or personal? It's usually one or the other."

"A little bit of both. I mean...I gotta beautiful girlfriend that ain't with me right now. These social gatherings ain't really my thang either. " Rick and the man's attention both direct to the man's vibrating cell. Rick gets a peek at the name 'Matilda' before the phone is turned off.

Irritation builds under the stranger's tone. "We're the opposite then. I'd rather be here than home. This is where I belong." The man now speaks as if he's trying to convince himself of something. "And I got to where I am on my own. I never piggybacked off of anyone but, ask my wife and she'll tell you a different story. It gets hard after a while...being with someone who thinks you're indebted to them."

Rick senses something off about the man but carries on with the conversation. "I can kinda understand that. My girl...she's this huge deal and I'm still trying to get my name out there. She doesn't make me feel like I owe her anything but, I know I ain't good enough for her..."

"Fuck..." the man laughed apologetically.

Rick shakes his head, there was some small laughter from him too. As much as he hated being at this event, it was nice to have a good conversation with someone. It reminded him of the friendly hospitality of home.

It's only Rick that hears his name in the background, As Eugene is making his way towards the bar.

"Looks like I'd better be getting back out there...it was nice meeting you. I didn't get your name."

"Caesar Martinez." The man quickly replies.

A sudden burst of recognition hits Rick.

Rick states his name as if Caesar should've been aware of it. "I'm Rick Grimes."

"Am I supposed to know that name?"

"Maybe not mine, but my girlfriend's. I'm dating Michonne."

The two men became very aware of each other.

Caesar gets up while throwing down a few bills for his drink. "Well, good luck with that."

Caesar only takes a few steps before he hears Rick. "Yeah, you go ahead and run off, since I ain't a woman I know you ain't gon' put your hands on me."

From a distance, all Eugene can see is tension between Rick and Caesar. The two men are in each others faces, and despite his timid nature, Eugene rushes to action.

"Whatever she told you is a damn lie. And if you're stupid enough to believe her, that's on you."

A frightened Eugene wedges himself between the two men. "We-we should go R-Rick. I got some huh...some people for you to meet." The manager is a ball of nerves as Rick's body becomes like cement, and Caesar's disposition goes from defensive to combative. He decides that he wasn't done antagonizing the singer.

"And how is Michonne? Must be spending a lot of time at home these days. Make sure she knows this is what she gets for lying on me."

"You threatening Michonne is gonna get you in a lotta fucking trouble." Rick warns.

Caesar gets close enough to Rick, that even a whisper is heard loudly. "If you're the one I gotta answer to, I'm not scared."

Caesar then brushes past Rick, almost knocking him over. Rick makes a move after him but Eugene is pulling him back with everything he's got, reminding him of the task at hand. "This isn't the place or the time. Now straighten up and let's finish what we came here to do." Eugene speaks boldly but his eyes are worrisome and praying Rick sides with him and lets it go.

* * *

Rick followed Caesar outside into the parking lot. Caesar is opening his car door, but it's slammed shut by Rick. "We got some thangs to discuss."

"Like hell we do."

"Yeah you're right. We don't needa talk."Caesar stumbles back after an enraged punch to the face. Tasting blood that colors his bottom teeth red, he grins wide. His heckling laughter encased in his throat.

"You wanna act like this whole thing's a joke, I'm gonna leach you a lesson."

"Ain't a damn thing I can learn from a pathetic country bumpkin, with a weak right cross."

"It don't look that weak to me."

Caesar swings at Rick. The sound the hit made when colliding with the singer's face, crunched through the air. Warm liquid flows from Rick's nose and melts over his top lip. Another fist comes flying at the singer. This blow is more crushing than the one before. Off balance and dizzy, Rick swings and misses. Caesar cracks Rick right in the ribs. The singer rocks back wincing.

The two men are trading punches back and forth. Their labored breaths slice the crisp night's air.

Rick takes a few steps backward, finding himself on the losing side of the fight. He grunts spitting a glob of blood onto the pavement.

"You don't look too good fiddlesticks." Caesar taunts.

"It doesn't matter how many hits you land. You're still the same sick son of a bitch who bullied a woman."

"I don't care what I've done to her. SHE OWES ME!"

Rick charges, sending the two of them colliding into the car.

Gritting his teeth, Rick uses his haziness to his advantage and violently head buds Caesar, sending the back of his head cracking the glass of his car window.

Rick's fist collects the scarlet stained material of his opponents collar, and jerking the man ahead, causing Caesar's head snap forward. Another punch strikes Caesar, then another and another, each time Rick pulls his fist back, more blood accumulates on his knuckles. Rick feels like he's outside his body. He can no longer feel what he's doing but he looms over his actions, cheering on each act of aggression.

Arms physically pry Rick's body away. The last this he sees before being yanked around was the satisfying sight of Caesar slumping down against his car, bloodied and disoriented.

* * *

Hours later Caesar was parked outside his mansion. He looks at his car door and stares at the cracked window he has to replace. He tries to fix himself up as much as he could, but even dabbing the blood from his skin hurts. He takes a deep breath before getting out of the car.

"Matilda!" Caesar calls as he's staggering through the front door of his home. "I need you!"

Matilda slowly approaches her husband. Every bit of damage Rick had done to the man during their altercation was visible to her.

He takes note of her demeanor, a woman who usually had some semblance of joy behind her eyes, now seemed hollowed out.

"Help me take this coat off..." He demanded.

A hard slap strikes him across the face, over raw wounds placed on him from his fight. He's in agony, as the string of her slap burns him. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"You're what's wrong with me!" It takes everything in her to let her anger take the lead, and not her sadness while she's holding back tears.

"I walk in like this," his hand obnoxiously gestures to his face "and the first thing you do is hit me? And you wonder why I'm never home."

"We both know why you're never home. You're a spineless coward that's never been worth shit to anyone your entire life but me, YOUR WIFE, and in return you choose to disrespect and humiliate me!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"I know you're cheating!"

He shoves past her sucking his teeth, "you're out of your mind."

"You're a cheater!" She pushes at his back "admit it!"

He turns around. "I have never cheated on you! Ever!"

He grunts as she shoves his chest screaming. "Liar!"

"Clam down!" He grabbed her wrists.

"I get it if you don't care about me, but how could you do this so carelessly? Without my family pumping money into everything you do, you'd be broke! You can't afford the friends you have or this lifestyle without me!"

"This is you being dramatic because I don't give you enough attention. I'm doing you a favor entertaining this conversation." He practically throws her wrists when he releases them.

She looses her balance from this action but regains it quickly. "Its been all over the TV Caesar. There are photos of you with this girl."

He looks past his wife and sees pictures of himself and his mistress plastered all over the screen. A report that was given by glorified stalkers on _C.M.Z._ He swallows hard and looks at her wiping tears from her cheeks. He falls to his knees before her and wraps his arms around her, hugging her by the hips, as he pleads.

"Forgive me...just please forgive me. I made a mistake! You want me to grovel and beg, I'm doing it."

"The last time you were on your knees like this, you were asking for my heart. Now you want forgiveness for breaking it?" Repulsed she removes his arms. "I will never forgive you."


	18. Chapter 18 grin and bear it

Driving, Eugene makes a hard left turn out of the parking lot. He speeds down the road. "Christ! Christ! Christ!" He frantically chants. A groaning Rick is laying in the back seat. He chucks Eugene's tuxedo coat from off of his head, then peaks out the car window. From how fast Eugene is driving, everything's a blur.

"Eugene, I need you to keep it together. Just listen to me."

"I can't take you back to the hotel because paparazzi camp out there, and there's a ton of random people walking around...can't take you to a hospital either, for the same reason..."

"Drive me to Shane's place."

"Is he even home?!"

"Doesn't matter, I have a key, just get me there."

"We need to call Abraham!" Rick's panicked driver frantically pleaded.

"You do what I tell you first. Take me to Shane's, afterwards you can call Abraham. And slow down before we get pulled over. Then we really gon' have somethin' to worry about."

After being dropped off, Rick walked with Eugene's coat back over his head. He takes notice of his hand covered in dried blood, before shamefully removing it from his sight.

Eugene made him so paranoid during the ride, that even the lawn seemed specious, and he hides further away under the coat. He makes it to the front door and slowly retrieves the key, from under Shane's rustic welcome mat. Entering the house it's pitch black. He's searching around in the dark for a light switch, when suddenly the coat is yanked off his head, and he's put into an aggressive choke-hold.

Shane screams in the ear of the man in his possession. "Speak before I rip your fucking throat out!"

Rick struggles to speak and chokes on spit. "It's Riickk!"

The voice sounded pretty mangled to Shane. He does his own checking, by running his hand over Rick's head, through the singer's familiar curls. He quickly releases his friend. "Shit man, thought I was getting robbed."

Rick holds his throat coughing, then rasps. "Shane what are you doing home? You told me you'd be back in a few days."

"Yea well, something didn't feel right about your call." Shane flicks on the lights and sees Rick's battered face. "Please tell me you got hit by a buss and someone didn't do that to you."

"...you should see the other guy."

"The only way the other guy can look any worse is if he's dead."

"He'll live...unfortunately."

"How are you just casually into murder? what you mean _unfortunately_?"

Shane immediately phoned "his number one girl." An on call doctor who he paid generously for medical care any hour of the night. In this case, for discretion too. Shane walks in with the women in question, a few hours after getting Rick settled in.

"Rick this is Jacqui, Jacqui this is Rick."

Rick tries to stand to greet her, but she waves for him not to. He reaches his hand out to her while speaking. "Its nice to meet you, I don't usually look like this."

Jacqui smiles and shakes hands with the singer. "I'm just happy I don't have to correct any nose injuries this time."

Shane smirks as Jacqui gives him a sideways glance.

"Rick, she's good man. Look at me, how many times does it look like I've broken my nose?"

Rick shrugs lightly. "I'm guessing three. How many times has it been?"

Shane and Jacqui reply in unison. "Fourteen."

Rick chuckles and groans remembering he's in a bit of pain.

Jacqui sets her medical bag on the kitchen table. She puts Shane to work by telling him to bring her a bowl of cool water. She gently tilts Rick's head up, and flashes some light back and forth between his eyes. "Any dizziness, drowsiness or feeling sluggish?"

Rick's eyes squint as he's reacting to the light then speaks softly. "No ma'am."

"As I'm doing this are you experiencing any double or blurred vision?"

"No."

"Head pains, noasia or vomiting?"

"Not until Shane gets back" he jokes.

She sighs. "You don't seem to have a concussion but you have two severely bruised eyes, that left one is already swelling, some bruising on the jaw line and a huge gash on your right brow. How long ago was this fight?"

Rick responds with certainty. "Less than an hour ago."

Shane comes back and sets the bowel near Jacqui who starts speaking with Rick again. "I'm going to apply a cold compresses to your eye. This will help reduce immediate swelling." Jacqui soaks a clean wash cloth into the bowel then rings it out thoroughly before placing it gently places to Rick's eye.

Rick takes over holding the wash cloth, while Jacqui's steady hands cleans, and then begins stitching his brow. He was still running on adrenaline and unable to steady his hands. Shane sees this and starts rubbing his head.

Rick hisses a little as Jacqui finishes the last stitch, then he watches her inspect his brow before she looks to the singer. "I need you to consume a lot of vitamin C. If you have any fruits, Pineapple and Papayas are best."

"Thank you for coming out, I really appreciate it Ms. Jacqui" Rick states thankfully, but Jacqui notices Rick's hand hovering over his rib in a guarding movement. Jacqui sighs, "looks like we've still got work to do."

Shane and Rick both notice he's harvesting some pain along his ribs then Shane speaks. "It's a pity the _Rane_ fan club ain't around to hear me say this but, Rick...take your shirt off."

* * *

Shane escorts Jacqui to the front door. He makes a kind demand. "I'll drive you home, make sure you get there safely."

She smiles at him. "That's sweet but you should stay with your friend."

He leans against his door frame, flexing his biceps with the crossing of his muscular arms. "Hell be alright."

She notices a shift in his body language and keep things professional. "He will be because you're going to stay with him. I left some pain meds, watch the dosage, and put some witch hazel oil on his eye to help with any skin discoloration."

"I got it." He smiles at her. "Call me when you get home?"

She covers her mouth yawning. "I will."

"And get yourself some sleep," he moves in closer to her, "you must be tired, runnin' through my dreams the way you do."

An unamused Jacqui rolls her eyes, "For hitting on me you'll have to pay extra next time."

The two share a quick goodbye. Shane walked back inside with a boyish grin afterwards.

Rick is fast asleep on the couch when his friend finds him. Shane then notices Rick's phone ringing and picks it up seeing Michonne's name flashing. He thinks for a few seconds before answering it.

* * *

Dawn's receptionist Gormen was managing his time between taking calls, and directing clients into the waiting area. A women walks by him, in attempt of getting into Dawn's office. "Miss! Miss! You can't just walk in there!" He shouts at the woman who's back is to him, all he can make out is her long waves of black hair, an hourglass figure, and peaks of her golden brown completion. He watches her turn around. Her beauty somehow guilt's him, and he regrets speaking so harshly.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Martiniez."

"I'm going by my maiden name these days. Rojas." She announces proudly. "Is Dawn alone in her office?"

"She is, but she's busy at the moment. It wouldn't be fair of me to have you wait. I've got a room full of appointments for her."

"Dawn and I are old gal pals. Tell her I'm here. She'll be dying to see me." When Gormen seems to rank his fear of Dawn over his attraction to her, Matilda appears overly distressed and sighs.

Gormen becomes motivated to show a more caring side of himself. "Listen Ms. Rojas, I've heard about your...ordeal over the news and I'm sorry. For the record, not all us men are unfaithful."

"Oh I know. You seem like the type of man, who'd remind a women that there are still true gentlemen in the world. If only I could get a taste of that now, in my moment of need." **  
**

Dawn is on edge as she's warned Matilda was on her way in. She sighs and whispers under her breath, "Michonne what did you do?"

The door opens and Matilda is smiling, but that smile is nowhere near sincere. Dawn and Matilda were civil only because their husbands were friendly, but the two women never really took to each other. "Do you have time for little old me?"

Dawn looks at the woman. "What do you want?"

"Oh, so you're rude? Good. I could only fake being nice to you for so long."

"You've never had much issue with that before."

Matilda rolled her eyes. "After finding out I was being cheated on, you could guess I was upset. I was upset but confused as to why some of those photos seemed familiar. I knew that hotel. So I get the owner on the phone, and he tells me he handed those exact photos over to your_ lady of leisure_ Phillip Blake. So that's why I'm in your office, because I can't find your _pampered princess_ of a husband."

"Okay, we can't have a civil conversation if you're insulting Philip."

"Why wouldn't I disrespect a man who's had a hand in my humiliation? I mean, what did I ever do to him?"

"Philip didn't out Martinez."

"Am I supposed to believe that? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Obviously judgement isn't your strong suite, you did marry Caesar." Dawn bit back.

Michonne arrives at Dawn's agency. She along with an uncomfortable gathering of people in the waiting area, can hear raised voices coming from Dawn's office. It's hard to make out any clear dialog, but the hostility was very apparent. Gorman had vanished from his desk, so without anyone to stop her, Michonne takes off to Dawn's office and breaks up an argument between Matilda and Dawn.

"Dawn everyone can hear the two of you. Matilda what are you doing here?"

Dawn, who's kept her composure better than a fuming Matilda, walks around her desk, giving Michonne a subtle shake of the head. "Security will be here to escort her out. Michonne wait for me outside."

Michonne is becoming undone as Matilda notices the guilt in the actress's expressive eyes. "She thinks you're responsible doesn't she?" Michonne says ignoring Dawn's signal to keep quiet, while Matilda's brow furrows in suspicion.

Dawn looks more intently at Michonne, and tries to get her to leave as the agent whispers to her client. "Don't say anything, just go outside."

"No." Michonne refuses. "I'm not letting you get blamed for something you didn't do."

"Dawn let the girl speak her peace."

"Dawn and Phillip had nothing to do with those photos being sent to CMZ. I sent them." Michonne admits.

Matilda can feel her heart sink into her chest. "Why?" She whispers. "And what the hell were you thinking?" She now yells.

"...I had the pictures and I was going to come to you in private, but I was blinded by anger. I just wanted him to suffer."

"So that's your excuse?! You were pissed at my husband so you threw my marriage under the buss?!"

"He's cruel! I met him when I was twenty-two and really green to the industry. He took joy in insulting everything about me. My looks, my skills as an actress. To have someone constantly putting me down, day in and day out, I think it really messed with me." Michonne confesses with a face that softens Matilda. "Sometimes it wouldn't be the things he said to me, it would be the way he looked at me like I, I disgusted him."

Dawn stands beside Michonne. "She's telling you the truth. She finally decided that enough was enough, and left a show she loved because of him. Afterwards he proceeded to bash her to anyone who would listen so that she couldn't get work."

"Michonne, I know we're acquaintances at best, but I've known you just as long as my husband has. So for four years he's been treating you this way, and not once did you tell me, or anyone?"

Dawn intervenes. "Are you honestly blaming Michonne?"

Matilda shakes her head. "No! I love...loved him, but I would never stand behind a man that would treat another women poorly. Ceaser was a grown man in his thirties when he met Michonne, who treats a girl like that? And I didn't know."

Dawn voices her bottom line to Matilda, "You can beat yourself up, but that wont do anything for us. Michonne needs to put what your husband did behind her and move on. I need what we've all shared here not to leave this room. I mean it, no retaliation against Michonne."

"Michonne what you did, it was disgraceful, selfish, and you should be ashamed of yourself, but you've been through enough. And so have I..."

Michonne looks Matilda in the eyes. "I'm sorry. I felt powerless for so long and I did something impulsive to get some of that power back."

"Just let this be the last time you feel powerless. You're an amazing girl, talented too, and my god, if I had a body like yours, they'd have to sue me to keep my clothes on."

Michonne smiled then speaks with concern. "So what are you going to do now? I know you still love him."

Matilda speaks cheerfully. "I'm going to do something that will make me happy. I'm going back home to Columbia, I'm gonna get browner under the sun, and systematically crush my husband's spirit from a distance."

* * *

Rick has his phone to his ear as Abraham is giving him a scolding.

"Have you thought about Michonne at at? Anything that you do wrong, she'll be used as a scapegoat for. I promised Sasha you weren't this type of man, that you'd be good for Michonne's image and now you've made me a liar. This shit is a breach of contract and Sasha likes to sue people. Imagine if someone other than Eugene had found you? This whole thing could have gone tits up. Have you ever been on the phone with a man and knew for a fact that he'd pissed himself? Because I have."

"Are you speaking about Eugene?"

"You bet your ass I am!"

"Abraham the only person other than me and Eugene who knows of the fight is Ceaser, and there's no way he'll ever admit that he got into a fight with me and didn't win. His pride wont let him."

"Lucky for you he's in midst of a huge cheating scandal and the man's gone into hiding. But Caesar is under a microscope now. I have to sell my ass to make sure that if people dig, your name wont come up as treasure. You listen to me, you are on house arrest until you look presentable."

"I understand."

Abraham ends the call and it leaves Rick feeling more broken down than before. It wasn't like the singer couldn't understand the anger. What had Abraham seen of the singer's professionalism in the past few months? Rick had already walked off the set of his music video, and now he was fist fighting people within the industry. He looks at Shane who brings him a plate of fruit.

"Eat everything's that's on the plate."

Rick starts to eat but was distracted by Shane watching his every move.

Rick rearranges himself on the couch. He places the bowl on his lap and snacks on a pineapple wedge. He chews slowly then stops as his eyes are intimately locked in with Shane's. "I can't eat if you're watching me."

"You were scary last night, you physically looked like testosterone and violence."

Rick smirks at a mothering Shane. "Ain't that the bull callin' the steer angry?"

"When you're done eating, go upstairs, take a shower and get dressed. I picked up some of your clothes from the hotel, while I was out shopping for ya food this mornin'."

"Can ya let me eat my papayas in peace?"

"Can't do that. Your girl's coming over in a few hours."

"Haha...funny."

"I'm serious, she called your phone so I answered it. She coming over today."

_author's note: small adjustments were made since the original posting of his chapter. _


End file.
